Tanque Verde Swap Meet.

This past weekend, I set my sights on how much food was sold in between the booths of pirated dvds and used electronics at The Tanque Verde Swap Meet in Tucson, Arizona. This trip came a day before I read an intriguing Op-Ed in Sunday's Washington Post that tracked a trend towards opting out of the gourmet-ification of natural food and eating just as well, for less money.   I never thought it would become a political statement to buy an apple out of a guy's truck, but here we are, trying to squeeze between Cargill, Monsanto and undervalued, over-produced organic crops to get to our food.

How To Eat A Sonoran Hot Dog.

A Sonoran Hot Dog is an American southwestern regional hot mess of a deep-fried bacon-wrapped hot dog topped with so many other things that you forget there is a deep-fried bacon-wrapped hot dog in the bun. So, of course, when in Tucson, Arizona, we had no choice but to do as Tucsonans do and go find one. One particular purveyor of this wonder of street food, Mr. Antojo's, is a food cart parked six days a week on the corner of Pantano and 22nd.  Don't bother calling to find it.  Just cruise that intersection any day but Sunday.  (I did find an interesting tidbit on his rolls while trying to find out the cart's location and schedule here.)

Here's how a Sonoran Hot Dog happens.