Local AND/ORganic
I think it is a real shame that the organic section at Safeway looks so dreary and there is such a small selection. I wonder whether they do it on purpose, just to deter people and ensure they keep buying the massive amounts of artificial crap that they peddle. It is true however that if you are buying local organic food at market then you do get a smaller range of produce. This is simply because it is mostly grown in the region where you live and it is dependent on the season in which it naturally grows.
People are so accustomed to having every vegetable and fruit available to them, with no consideration for what it took to produce it and have it shipped to their finger tips. Often it is grown in massive monoculture plantations and shipped great distances using massive amounts of fossil fuels and energy for refrigeration. A lot of what is available at the large supermarkets is not fresh, but has been cooled and stored for long periods just to ensure that it is always on the shelf.
One of the dangers with the monoculture conditions is that all the plants are almost genetically identical, not only on each farm but throughout whole regions and in some cases (like bananas) whole industries. This leaves crops far more vulnerable to disease and pests as they are so genetically similar. Herbicide and pesticide resistant strands of plants and insects also develop creating super weeds and pests. Much of the land is over worked and the soils nutrient content depleted. This of course means that the crops may not be fulfilling their requirements as a food for nourishment. No wonder so many people feel the need to supplement their diets with pharmaceutical vitamins. More pesticides and herbicides and chemical fertilizers are then required just to keep the crops viable. The effect that these chemicals have on both the environment and on people, are so significant that you don’t have to look very hard to see them. The incidence of diseases like cancer and leukemia are far higher around agricultural areas with heavily sprayed crops. The emergence of mass pesticide use since the 1950s coincides with the massive increase in cancer in our society. The fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides quickly find there way into the waterways and the food chain, affecting all animals and so us again. They also are causing the destruction of important aquatic ecosystems like wetlands and mangroves. These ecosystems are the natural filters at river mouths and throughout river systems. The chemicals then make their way out to sea and are also destroying the incredibly diverse coral reefs which contain so much of the biodiversity of the oceans.
It is not actually that much harder to grow vegetables and grains organically. Here at the farm we simply place screens over the young seedlings to protect them from pests. Weeds are pulled or cultivated back into the soil. Food crops in the fields are rotated with crops of green manures and nitrogen fixing plants, which are allowed to develop, die and are also cultivated in. It is more labour intensive, and that is why it costs more on the shelf. But you’re paying for what you get. I ask you to consider that the price of organic food IS the price of the production of food, not the price of some idealistic alternative. It is simply what it costs to grow food naturally. Organic should not be seen as the alternative to the norm, but the norm. Just say you were lucky enough to have the choice between food that is produced without harmful chemicals and is usually fresher and produced locally, or food that has had chemicals sprayed around and all over it, has been shipped from afar and is often no-longer fresh when it gets to you. What would you choose? Not everybody has the luxury of that choice.
Why is it that when a person is diagnosed with cancer the first thing the doctor recommends is that they switch to an organic, low meat diet. Why does it take for us to get mortally ill to make the necessary changes in our life to prevent such suffering? It is a mirror for how we treat the earth. We are living way beyond our capacity through practices that are so obviously not sustainable. Yet we don’t change, and all the symptoms are there, plain for us to see.
Ok, so my little rant is not referenced or peer reviewed and is certainly not new to many ears, but you know I am right, yeah? And you knew most of this already, right? Why do we continue to compromise our health and the health of the planet? Consider the cascade effect of your choices at the supermarket. Make the effort to get to a local market and support the organic growers that are putting in the extra effort and time to ensure that real, fresh food is available for you. If you talk with them I am sure you will find that they are as passionate about your health and the health of the planet as they are about their own and their family’s. They are keeping the future of your food secure also. If we support growers in our local community we ensure that when the shit hits the fan (and the oil runs out – transportation costs increase) there is food there for us all to eat. Also that the seed and strains of crops aren’t owned and patented by some massive corporation hell bent on sucking us and the third world dry of every last dollar. Ok, enough….
Check out these animations for a more light-hearted look at what I have been going on and on and on about…
[links to Store Wars, the meatrix, the meatrix 2]
People are so accustomed to having every vegetable and fruit available to them, with no consideration for what it took to produce it and have it shipped to their finger tips. Often it is grown in massive monoculture plantations and shipped great distances using massive amounts of fossil fuels and energy for refrigeration. A lot of what is available at the large supermarkets is not fresh, but has been cooled and stored for long periods just to ensure that it is always on the shelf.
One of the dangers with the monoculture conditions is that all the plants are almost genetically identical, not only on each farm but throughout whole regions and in some cases (like bananas) whole industries. This leaves crops far more vulnerable to disease and pests as they are so genetically similar. Herbicide and pesticide resistant strands of plants and insects also develop creating super weeds and pests. Much of the land is over worked and the soils nutrient content depleted. This of course means that the crops may not be fulfilling their requirements as a food for nourishment. No wonder so many people feel the need to supplement their diets with pharmaceutical vitamins. More pesticides and herbicides and chemical fertilizers are then required just to keep the crops viable. The effect that these chemicals have on both the environment and on people, are so significant that you don’t have to look very hard to see them. The incidence of diseases like cancer and leukemia are far higher around agricultural areas with heavily sprayed crops. The emergence of mass pesticide use since the 1950s coincides with the massive increase in cancer in our society. The fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides quickly find there way into the waterways and the food chain, affecting all animals and so us again. They also are causing the destruction of important aquatic ecosystems like wetlands and mangroves. These ecosystems are the natural filters at river mouths and throughout river systems. The chemicals then make their way out to sea and are also destroying the incredibly diverse coral reefs which contain so much of the biodiversity of the oceans.
It is not actually that much harder to grow vegetables and grains organically. Here at the farm we simply place screens over the young seedlings to protect them from pests. Weeds are pulled or cultivated back into the soil. Food crops in the fields are rotated with crops of green manures and nitrogen fixing plants, which are allowed to develop, die and are also cultivated in. It is more labour intensive, and that is why it costs more on the shelf. But you’re paying for what you get. I ask you to consider that the price of organic food IS the price of the production of food, not the price of some idealistic alternative. It is simply what it costs to grow food naturally. Organic should not be seen as the alternative to the norm, but the norm. Just say you were lucky enough to have the choice between food that is produced without harmful chemicals and is usually fresher and produced locally, or food that has had chemicals sprayed around and all over it, has been shipped from afar and is often no-longer fresh when it gets to you. What would you choose? Not everybody has the luxury of that choice.
Why is it that when a person is diagnosed with cancer the first thing the doctor recommends is that they switch to an organic, low meat diet. Why does it take for us to get mortally ill to make the necessary changes in our life to prevent such suffering? It is a mirror for how we treat the earth. We are living way beyond our capacity through practices that are so obviously not sustainable. Yet we don’t change, and all the symptoms are there, plain for us to see.
Ok, so my little rant is not referenced or peer reviewed and is certainly not new to many ears, but you know I am right, yeah? And you knew most of this already, right? Why do we continue to compromise our health and the health of the planet? Consider the cascade effect of your choices at the supermarket. Make the effort to get to a local market and support the organic growers that are putting in the extra effort and time to ensure that real, fresh food is available for you. If you talk with them I am sure you will find that they are as passionate about your health and the health of the planet as they are about their own and their family’s. They are keeping the future of your food secure also. If we support growers in our local community we ensure that when the shit hits the fan (and the oil runs out – transportation costs increase) there is food there for us all to eat. Also that the seed and strains of crops aren’t owned and patented by some massive corporation hell bent on sucking us and the third world dry of every last dollar. Ok, enough….
Check out these animations for a more light-hearted look at what I have been going on and on and on about…
[links to Store Wars, the meatrix, the meatrix 2]
posted by Unknown | 9:53 PM
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