Word of a new show on IFC is spreading around all the green-y, food-y, urban-y blogs. "Portlandia" (starring SNL fave Fred Armisen and actress/musician Carrie Brownstein) pokes fun at the healthy, sustainable lifestyle that so many of us who would support a co-op tend to take so seriously sometimes and which has become synonymous with the title city. The first episode is available at the Portlandia website.
Holly Richmond at Grist asks "how embarrassingly accurate" is Portlandia in its parody of all things sustainable?
Local, organic food
Portlandia: In the pilot, a waitress tells Brownstein and Armisen that the chicken they're about to eat, Collin, "is a heritage breed, woodland-raised chicken that's been fed a diet of sheep's milk, soy, and hazelnuts." But before they even order, they skeptically eye Collin's papers and snapshot, ask if he was allowed to frolic with friends, and drive 30 miles to scope out the farm where Collin was raised.
Real life: I've never driven 30 miles to check out my dinner, but yes, obviously it matters where our food comes from.
I'm on a recent "know where it comes from" kick myself (which I'll talk about in a future blog post) and I have actually considered taking a ride to check out where my beef or chicken is coming from. A combination of laziness and not having the time has kept me from doing that, resulting in a pretty much vegetarian lifestyle for the last couple of weeks.
It seems like South Philly, with its tightly-packed houses, walkable blocks, public transportation, bike culture, community of food co-op supporters and chronically underachieving professional basketball team is everything that Portland wants everyone to think Portland is.
Anyway, check out the show. If we can't laugh at ourselves, whom can we laugh at? Feel free to leave a comment here, especially if you see a little of yourself in the parody.