Every time I return to the states, there's an 'oh my gah, that's real weird' moment.  It typically happens within the first day or two of arriving. For example, the first time I went back (after a year and eight months without a visit), I had a moment of panic in the airport bathroom.

'The toilet's overflowing!'

I was so accustomed to the tiny half bowls of water in toilet bowls here in Spain that I couldn't believe my eyes. I passed from fear to shock to disbelief to sadness (that's a lot of water to waste...).

This time around my 'omg' moment was when I cracked an egg. It was SO. LIGHT. The yolk was an embarrasing, sickly hospital-wall-yellow color. Again, I felt shock, disbelief, then sadness. I reached for the butter to verify its color and it was just as lifeless.

Now, these were generic eggs and butter in my mother's fridge. I am aware that organic versions would be different. But. Check out the photo above, totally unedited, taken outside my apartment on under a cloudy sky.  Those are the generic eggs and butter here.

Why did we (America) have to sell our souls to an industrial food system back in the 20th century?  Most of what you can buy at the supermarket doesn't even taste. Sigh.