I wanted to share a paper I wrote for school. The assignment was to evaluate where your food comes from and how it affects our society and planet. I think it's a good read for anyone considering shopping at their local farmers market and/or eating organically. I also included a link to find a farmer market near you. Leave comments and share! Hope you can take something away from it or know somebody that may. Enjoy! -Aleiela Allen
Your Food Cycle
eating organic, local, and fresh...
by Aleiela Allen
“First we eat,
then we do everything else”. This quote
by M.F.K. Fisher explains the basics of our life so well. We all need food to
survive. We literally cannot live without digesting and absorbing food daily.
As we grow into adults, food is one constant that is always part of us. What we
eat may change depending on our taste buds, our location, our health, our
education or simply what we can afford, but food is food. Our body needs food
in order to obtain nutrients to fuel us throughout the day and grow old in age.
However, what we eats matters. When grocery shopping, the general population’s
main concern is what they are going to buy and how much of it. However, a small
percentage actually thinks of where the food is coming from; we live in a
“border-less society”. Because of greenhouse effects, diseases, and the
importance of nutrition, the route your food takes to arrive at your local
grocery store is an important question that more Americans should be asking.
American’s don’t ask this question because they are so used to getting whatever
they want, whenever they want it. They have no border around where they believe
they should buy food. However, it’s not Americans fault. We live in a society
where we are ignorant to food consumption and production. We are only taught to
buy from our local grocery store, but this needs to change.
American’s
have their go-to grocery store that they drive to purchase their food, go home
to cook it, eat the food and repeat; it’s a cycle. A cycle that is necessary
but more often times than none has no life to it. This cycle is a very dull
one. The food is more than likely grown with harmful pesticides and injected
with GMOs, harvested by people in full body suits, packaged so fast that they
barely look at the product, and then shipped miles to the store. Once at the
store, the customer picks it up, probably not looking at the product because
they are almost all the same, and then takes it home. American’s sit down on
their couch or dinner table and eat. Not thinking about where their food came
from but how it was cooked and how they are currently eating it and then they
partake in some other activity. This assignment made me look into how the
general population buys their food.
Pesticides
are a huge problem in Americans’ food. According to sustainable.org, “Pesticides
have been linked to a number of health problems, including neurologic and
psychological problems, cancer, and other diseases.” Also, According to the
Environmental Working Group, “In government tests analyzed by the Environmental
Working Group, detectable pesticide residues were found on 67 percent of food
samples after they had been washed or peeled.” These are staggering numbers.
The sad part about it is, that American’s need to realize that they cannot
trust our government and that the majority of they food we buy at supermarkets
is not safe for us to eat. GMOS are
genetically modified organisms. Monsanto is the largest distributer of these
harmful GMO seeds. The reason farmers use GMO’s is to make their produce
bigger, better, perfect, and more attractive to the average consumer. GMO’s are
the reason why the potatoes you buy seem larger than a potato should be,
because they are. It’s not natural and it’s not safe for consumers (Institute
for Responsible Technology, 2013).
I
live in Los Angeles, California. The local chain grocery store that is closest
to me is Ralphs. If I were to shop for all the food items on the assigned
grocery list, my chicken breast, baked potato, spinach and butter would come
from all different locations around the country. My chicken breast I would buy is
raised and packaged from a company called Foster Farms. Foster Farms is located
in Livingston, California therefore, according to Google Maps; this specific
brand of chicken travels 282 miles before I purchase it. When it comes to the
distance travelled, fortunately this company is conscience of their gases
emitted by travel. Foster Farm’s website sates “Foster Farms tradition
naturally promotes sustainability, as local foods help to support local
agricultural communities. Food that is produced locally requires less distance
to travel and has less of an impact on the environment.” However, the farm
still emits a very high level of carbon dioxide that attributes to greenhouse
gases. The chickens need to be packaged according to FDA standards.
The potatoes and
spinach I would purchase both come from the Dole Food Co. This company is
located in Thousand Oaks, CA, which is, according to Google Maps, only 31.8
miles away. The fossil fuel emitted by Dole transporting their products to
Ralphs is very minimal compared to me living in a different area. Living in
California is great when buying produce because the climate here makes it
possible to have farms near us so our produce isn’t traveling very far. However,
like the chicken, the company still emits greenhouse gases when packaging their
products. The company also uses pesticides that are harmful for human
consumption.
The last item on
my assigned grocery list is butter. The butter I would chose to buy from Ralphs
is Land O’ Lakes. This company is located in Arden Hills, MN; therefore, the
butter has to travel approximately 1,943 miles to arrive at my local Ralphs
grocery store. From all the items on my grocery list, this butter has traveled
the farthest, therefore, releasing the highest amount of fossil fuels into the
atmosphere just so I can have it for dinner. If you think about the small
amount I am using for dinner and how much energy that will give me for the day,
much more energy is used just to get it at the store; the math doesn’t add up. “In
the United States, it takes about 10 units of fossil energy to produce one unit
of food energy” (Webber, 2012). We are wasting energy by producing what is
needed for our own energy.
Now, let me
explain to you how I add life to my cycle. To me, “Think Globally, Act Locally”
is more than just helping the environment; it’s a way of life. I recently moved
to California and when people ask me how I’m doing and what my life is like in
L.A., I think people are surprised to find that one of the first things I talk
about isn’t all the celebrities or movies I see, but the Farmer’s Markets I go
to. The produce I can find in California is unbelievable; the juiciest peaches,
the creamiest avocadoes and the most favorable vegetables. All of my food comes
from Farmer’s Markets where no pesticides are used, packaging emits no
greenhouse gases and I connect with the people who raised their chickens, grew
their vegetables and harvested their honey. I walk, instead of drive to my
farmers market where I arrive to see numerous tents set up by farmers, many of
them with their children standing right beside them. The tent with goats’ milk
and cheese even bring their goats for the kids to pet. I walk by and smell the
aroma of the produce and fresh baked bread. I carefully chose each potato
because they in fact, are not all the same. I don’t eat chicken but I do
however buy my eggs from the famers market. These eggs taste completely
different then the eggs you would buy from your local grocery store. The little
girl who handed me my dozen is thought about, as my thick yolk drips off my
bread. My boyfriend is slowly learning about the advantages of shopping at the
farmer’s market. One week, we weren’t able it to make the weekly farmers market
so he shopped alone at the grocery store. We sat down to our store bought meal
and he asked me why it doesn’t taste as good. I smiled and said, because it’s
not locally grown. Fruits and vegetable actually lose nutrients while they
travel miles to your grocery store. Eggs taste different when chickens are
injected with hormones and live an inhumane life. You don’t notice it, if you
take for granted food.
However, eating
form local farmer’s markets does have some disadvantages. Because different
seasons produce different crops you are not always able to get exactly the
product that you wish to buy. For example, one time I went to the farmer’s
market wanting to buy a specific type of peach and when I asked the farmer, he
replied that they weren't ready yet and hopefully he would have them the
following week. Along the same lines, in the winter, I would not be able to buy
the peaches at all because they only harvest in the summer. One can be upset
about the different crops at different times of the year but I think it’s all
about your perception of the food cycle. Different crops mean different varieties.
Different varieties of food, lead to more education on recipes and
cultures. This is another way to change
your dull food cycle to a more vibrant food cycle.
Switching to a
local, “bordered” diet will not only help the environment by cutting down on
fossil fuels and greenhouse gases it will also help us live a healthier life by
eating food that doesn't contain harsh chemicals from pesticides or GMOS. We
also benefit from the great interactions we have while at the farmers market.
The Farmers Market Coalition states “People who shop at farmers markets have
15-20 social interactions per visit”. Compared to “1-2 per visit at the grocery
store.” This is another reason why going to the farmers markets are more
enjoyable. All we have to do as American’s is to think about where our food is
coming from, in turn we will enjoy our food more, enjoy our life more, and
preserve the world we live in. Just think about your own food cycle. Be a part
of your food and your food will be a part of you.
Celebrating
the Many Benefits of Farmers Markets. (2013). Farmers Market Coalition.
Retrieved on October 28, 2013, from http://farmersmarketcoalition.org/celebrating-the-many-benefits-of-farmers-markets.
Environmental
(2013). Foster Farms. Retrieved on October 29, 2013, from http://www.fosterfarms.com/about/stewardship.asp.
Lundgren,
K. (2010). Got Pesticides? InfoPlease. Retrieved on October 29, 2013, from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/pesticide1.html.
Mack,
S. (2011). Why does the Human Body Need
Food to Survive. LiveStrong.com. Retrieved on October 29, 2013, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/466201-why-does-the-human-body-need-food-to-survive/.
Rabin,
K. (2012). Toward a More Energy Efficient Food System. Grace Communications
Foundation. Retrieved on October 29, 2013, from http://gracelinks.org/blog/754/toward-a-more-energy-efficient-food-system.
