500 posts ago…

I started a blog. On January 29, 2008 I kicked Show Me Eats off thusly:

Maybe it was the frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the grocery store. Or it could have been the Missourian review that compared Addison’s (unfavorably) with Ruby Tuesday. Or maybe it was the fact that more than thirty restaurants in Columbia closed last year while Starbucks and Wal-Marts continue to pop up like dandelions. Whatever it was, it is clear that Columbia can do better. We can eat better, drink better and buy better. We don’t have to send our money to Iowa for beef, California for vegetables or Argentina for out of season fruit. We can keep our money right here in central Missouri…and have a damned fine time in doing it. That’s what this blog will be dedicated to: enjoying life, locally. How does one do that? Frankly, I’m still learning myself. But I’ve got a few ideas.

500 posts, 926 comments, two years and innumerable rants later…here we are. Still fighting the good fight for good food, hopefully at least slightly better-fed and informed. The one immutable fact is that I’ve learned more than I’ve taught. So thank you for sharing your opinions and your time with me. I appreciate it, and look forward with gusto to the next 500 posts and beyond.

Let’s get started.