At this point most people living in
developed countries understand the difference between organic and
conventional produce. Hopefully you're at least aware that eating
organic is better for individual health as well as our environment,
even if you're not sure exactly why.
In a nutshell, the use of organic
fertilizers and pest control results in safer, fresher and
better-tasting food for you and your family. Organic agriculture does
not harm farm workers, and helps maintain long-term stability and
fertility of the soil. It is absolutely not necessary to use toxic
chemicals in order to produce bountiful crops. In fact the opposite
is true - the synthetic pesticides and herbicides used by big agra
actually, in the long run, harm everything they touch.
So why is Monsanto still in business?
Why are we still dumping toxic chemicals on our food? It may seem
like a mystery, but it really isn't.
One way to stop big agra
is... stop giving them your money!
Don't buy oranges in the summer;
oranges go in Christmas stockings. Asparagus is no good in October,
but it's wonderful eaten in celebration of spring. What's good in
October? Apples. Gorge yourself on tomatoes in summer and fall, but
avoid buying them in winter and spring when they are bland-tasting and mealy
in texture.
Local organic farms, CSAs,
delivery services, farmer's markets and health food stores usually don't even sell non-seasonal produce, although bigger health food chains do. Buying local, organic and seasonal means you aren't contributing to destructive agricultural practices and even better, you're eating in accord with your natural biorhythms.
Out-of-season produce that's been
harvested early and ripens while in transit from a faraway country
never tastes as good as the stuff that's been grown nearby and
is allowed to come into its own freshness naturally. “Farm to
table” may seem trendy but it's here to stay. Because once you get
used to eating food that's bursting with life force and flavor, you
just can't go back.
I've experimented with several CSAs and
delivery services, and I'm fortunate to live in Southern California,
where truly amazing produce is available year-round. For the moment
I've settled on Summerland.
They're based in downtown Los Angeles and they are the best I've
tried so far in terms of quality, selection and price.
Here's a photo from end of November
2012. Summerland does a fabulous job of curating each organic produce
box. There is never too much of one fruit or vegetable (a common
problem with regular CSAs - where you receive, say, 14 eggplants
instead of three or four; 10 onions instead of one).
 |
Organic produce box from December 2012:
kale, green leaf lettuce, cantaloupe, avocado, lemon, Japanese
eggplant,
zucchini, garlic, red onion, plums, Persian cucumbers,
cherry tomatoes, green grapes, thyme
|
If you live in a climate with long
winters, you can still benefit from eating fresh, organic produce in
the warmer months - there are organic farmers and farmer's markets
across the country operating sometimes up to six months a year. If
you're lucky enough to have a yard or even a strip of land, consider
growing your own. And then there is canning... an adventure on which
I am about to embark, and which will be documented here...
Anyway, at the very least you can shop
at a health food store, or in the organic produce section of your
chain grocer. Be aware that use of the word “organic” is not
particularly regulated or standardized. Lots of companies slap the
word “organic” or “natural” on their labels solely for
marketing, when there's nothing organic about the product at all. Question everything and be a smart consumer, and remember that advertising and marketing campaigns are mostly lies made up to scare you into buying this or that, or paying more than you need to.
Mostly I eat fresh foods and consume
very little from bags, cans or boxes, so I really only have to deal
with the organic issue when I'm choosing produce. And I solve that
mostly by eating what I get in my produce box, supplemented by trips
to the farmer's market and occasionally a health food store.
If you really need to eat that
conventional produce, which ones are the best for you, and the worst? How do you deal with the higher cost of food when you're on a budget? Those will be the topics of my
next post on organic produce.
Namaste and thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment