There are homebrewers who'd surely agree that the only way to do it right (and creatively) is at home.
There's possibly a topic about sustainability and beer to be found herein, one that might possibly be tied to the reasons for California's drought-induced water shortage (hint: think agriculture).
However, in the main, what's being addressed by the soon-to-be former reviewer is burn-out, and a desire to strip away the extravagance and get back down to the heart of the matter. This is something I can relate to, quite vividly.
Restaurant Industry's Dirty Secret: Why I'm Mostly Going to Stop Eating Out, by Ari LeVaux (AlterNet)
In a few weeks I will write my final restaurant review for Weekly Alibi in Albuquerque and head home to Montana. I’ll miss restaurant criticism, but I will also feel some relief to leave it behind ...
... Because the bottom line is, if you’re going to be a high-maintenance food snob on a mediocre income, cooking at home is the only sustainable option. You can pay more for pastured meat; local, organic vegetables; eggs from pastured chickens; pesticide-free produce; and seafood harvested by non-slaves, and still pay less than you would even at a cheap restaurant, while sending positive ripples down the food chain.
I will miss the ethnic restaurants, the fancy restaurants and my favorite guilty pleasure, the sushi restaurants. But I won’t miss the systemic food waste in the restaurant industry.
