How much thought goes into what you buy at the grocery store or farmer’s market? How do you make your decisions? Do you choose your produce based on looks, price, organic, how locally it was grown or simply that you just want it? Until 2006, the average person did not give much thought into where their food was grown or what chemicals were used to grow it. But Michael Pollen illuminated the process of growing food in “Omnivores Dilemma.” Then in 2007, Barbara Kingsolver wrote about it in “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.” For me these books helped opened a dialog for the average citizen to think and talk about their choices. Now eight years later, organic and locavore are terms that have become part of normal daily life. People are starting to think about how their food is grown and how it affects them and the planet’s health. I love how this information is becoming mainstream and is making people think about their choices; educating them.
For our family, local is more important than organic but the best, if affordable, is local organic. I spend a lot of time talking with the growers. I have found that they spray as little as possible because every time they turn on their tractors, it costs money, which they have to pass along to their consumers. They need to think about how they raise their crops and maintain the health of the land along with the animals they raise. Their livelihood depends on it. The growers who are selling their produce to larger markets and ship long distances tend to have to make tougher choices about what they are spraying and when they pick their produce. It’s important that their produce can handle traveling long distances and still be edible on the other side. So, some items may have to be picked before they are ripe. I believe that produce picked ripe is taster and has more nutritional content. The local growers who sell to the locals feel their customers are more understanding that their produce may not be cosmetically beautiful, but tastes so good nonetheless. This fact helps them decide how and what to spray and when to pick.
When animals are happy, taken care of humanly and fed a healthy diet, they do not need to be given antibiotics, except on rare occasion. We take this into account when purchasing meats and eggs.
Every year, it is getting easier to find local produce. Farmer’s markets are springing up everywhere. In 1994, there were only 1,755 farmer’s markets in the entire USA but in 2012, there are at least 7,864. We are so fortunate that local produce is becoming more widely available. Sometimes I feel like a farmer’s market groupie, which is easy in the area I live in. During the summer, there are five farmer’s markets weekly and since I seem to always forget something, I have been to know to visit them all in a week.
What factors guide your choices? Please share and I will continue to share.
Here’s some interesting insights from Mike Biltonen (my darling husband), about the state of the planet we all share. Mike is a passionate fruit farmer and serious about local food security.