I LOVE FOOD! Who doesn't?!?! Our love for food has contributed to increased rates of obesity and many other health issues. Unfortunately, it has also made a HUGE impact on our planet!
Food is so much more that the fuel that keeps us going. It involves choosing, cooking, eating and sharing with the family and friends. Over the centuries we have gone from being primitive and foraging to only a handful of us being farmers and the rest of us getting our food at a supermarket. This is where things get a little sticky....something that was meant to be simple and stressfree has become a health concern.
Most of what we buy, cook, and eat has been tainted with synthetic chemicals at almost every stage of its existence. There are chemicals to kills things (pesticides), Chemicals to make things grow faster (fertilizers, growth hormones, anitbiobtics), and chemicals that make things look better than they would and last longer than they should.
Yes, the government does set limits on just how much of each chemical is used, and they claim that the levels they approve are safe. Yet, they do not conduct rigorous testing to make sure that none of those limits are exceeded.
How can we know that we are not putting these chemicals into our bodies? Buy organic!
Not even 100 years ago, all farming was organic!
The organic food market has grown drastically over the past decade. It used to be that you could only find organic foods in specialty stores, but it is now available almost everywhere. Even Wal-Mart is getting on the trend. Organic foods are even becoming an important part of restaurants and school cafeterias!
So what stops everyone from buying organic? Habit and cost. It really is not ignorance anymore. Shoppers understand that organic foods are better for them and their families. And yes, organic is a tad bit pricier than conventionally grown foods. But I have to ask, what is more important, buying more less expensive food or getting used to eating just a little less and eating organic healthier food?
Let me break down the reasons why organically grown food is more expensive. The first reason is because it's more expensive for farmers to produce. Organic seeds cost more money. Then, there is also a lot of manual labor involved without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. People cost much more than chemicals. There are also stricter requirements and inspections, which obviously cost more. And because of the labor and laws, most organic farms aren't as big as conventional farms. Organic farmers do not achieve what economists call "economies of scale," which means the more you produce, the lower the cost of each item.
Aside from mentioning what isn't in organic foods, I should also mention what IS in them. Researchers have found that organic foods contain higher levels of essential nutrients and more cancer-fighting antioxidants than conventionally grown foods. Here's an example, organic ketchup was found to have 5 times the amount of the antioxidant lycopene than conventional ketchup. This fact makes it even more worth the price!
Now here's a tip, YOU CAN BE ORGANIC ON A BUDGET!
Be smart about what you buy. The FDA found you can reduce your pesticide intake by 90% if you ate only organic versions of 12 produce items.
peaches
apples
sweet bell peppers
celery
nectarines
strawberries
cherries
pears
imported grapes
spinach
lettuce
potatoes
To top it off, if you buy Organic items when they are IN SEASON, they will be priced slightly lower and produced more locally, which contributes to lowering your carbon footprint!
You can also shop around. With the increasing popularity of organic foods, you can bet that every grocery store wants your buisness, therefore they are more inclined to try and compete through everyday values and sales. And when you do find a deal, buy lots of it if you can freeze it or if it isn't perishable.
BUY LOCAL!!!! Buying locally grown fruits, vegetables and meats has become easier. Many supermarkets feature them in season and there is always your local farmers market. If you buy foods in season they will be cheaper because they are abundant. Fuel costs (part of your carbon footprint) are not incorporated into the price. And I can pretty much guarantee that locally grown food will taste better.
Being that the major chains in supermarkets have caught on, there's a pretty good chance that the stores own brand will offer you organic choices cheaper than the big-name brands. Choose it!
There is always the option of growing your own produce! This is something to seriously consider. You'd be surprised at how much you can grow in a small amount of space. Don't have a garden or a back yard? Consider container gardening! With roughly two square feet, you can grow greens that will keep you satisfied for months!
There is also the meat factor. There are various reasons beyond concern for the environment to change the way we look at meat. The qaulity of life for livestock can be an influential factor. It has caused many people to become vegetarian. Instead of allowing cows and other animals to graze and roam naturally, they are confined and fed grain and corn grown using pesticides. Simply reducing meat consumption would make a HUGE impact in lowering you carbon footprint. And health wise, lowering meat consumption can help with lowering cholesterol and limit the intake of unnecessary chemicals such as hormones and antibiotics.
I will be honest, I love meat! But I do not need to have meat at every meal to survive! I try to limit my meat intake to a small portion at dinner time. I also have the family eat a vegetrian meal one night a week. My kids look foward to "veggie night" weekly.
Eating green alone is not the answer, it is a cummulative effort. And that has been the point to my blog. To present tons of small steps we can take to slowly become greener and live more in harmony with nature. We only have one planet Earth, lets try to preserve it for our current health and the health of future generations.
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