Slow Food in a Fast Paced World

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Will you shake the hand that feeds you?

Food is essential for our survival as a species. Regardless of your dieting choices, omnivore, vegetarian, vegan, etc., as a living and breathing individual you must replenish your energy by consuming food. So isn’t it best to satisfy your appetite with the essential vitamins and nutrients grown naturally? What about going one-step further and shaking the hand that feeds you?

The news is in, and has been for a while now. Conventional farming methods that utilize GMOs, chemical fertilizers, and practice monoculture are terribly unhealthy and counteractive to improving the environment.

From: http://bif.rs/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/monokultura.jpg

Founded in economics, the monoculture model is a theoretical breakthrough. Business wise it makes complete economic sense. The economy of scale theory states that as you produce more of the same good, it becomes marginally cheaper to produce a single item. Lets say a farmer grows a 100-foot row of broccoli and it costs him/her 10 cents per broccoli plant. If he decided to produce 500 feet of broccoli instead, then they can cut the cost of one plant from 10 cents to, lets just say, 5 cents. Selling the broccoli for the same price as before will yield a higher profit for the farmer. But at what expense?  The expenses are for you and I to bear! To meet their bottom lines, these gigantic agriculture firms reduce the nutrition contained in the plants with fertilizers and pesticides, as well as wasting drums upon drums of oil in simply transporting food across the country, let alone oil use in tractors and other large machinery. This leaves our health and environment in question.

From: http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-there-is-always-a-solution.png

YES! There is a solution! It’s surprisingly simple and right in front of us: eat local; eat food.  Smaller local farms are inherently better for our health and the environment.

Here is why. Smaller farms practice biodiversity, which works to strengthen the healthiness of the plants on the farm so there is little to no need for chemical fertilizers. Buying fruits, veggies, and meat from local farmers also works to boost the local economies and promote small businesses in your area.

But LGBG, say I want to change my food purchasing habits, how do I find local farms to buy groceries??  Well environmental enthusiasts, try starting with Slow Food USA! Slow Food is a global organization that advocates for small local farmers and works to combat harmful farming practices used by large conventional farms. From the website you can easily maneuver around to find Slow Food organizations in your area. There are many links to local chapters where you can find a farm right for you! Not only will they help provide you with farmers to meet but they sponsor many volunteer events that are a whole lot of fun. So I ask one more time, for the improvement of your own health and that of the environment, will you shake the hand that feeds you?From: https://secure3.convio.net/sfusa/images/content/pagebuilder/sfusa_gardensign.p

From: https://secure3.convio.net/sfusa/images/content/pagebuilder/sfusa_gardensign.p

 

 

 

Consumers’ Rights Concerns Weakened by Right To Know Laws

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Hollywood, FL, March 26, 2011, Rally for the R...

Hollywood, FL, March 26, 2011, Rally for the Right to Know (Photo credit: MillionsAgainstMonsanto)

In reviewing the many battles raging on the food we eat and products we use, it appears that the right to know laws [1] are the sticking points in these controversies.  The current right to know laws are weak and effective in terms of addressing food and product ingredients. [2]   While the majority of consumers presume that consumer protection laws are designed to guard individual rights, the reality is that the purpose of most consumer protection laws is to promote the well-being of the population.  This renders their focus to social concerns, as opposed to legal protection.  This often is in direct conflict with the green movement, which acknowledges the damages to the environment by human action and proposes changes in past behaviors to alter the course of destruction.  The green movement seeks to adopt long-term effective solutions to problems of global warming and climate change and their impact on people and specifically on the food supply, while many other concerns seek immediate and often questionable solutions to problems such as world hunger.

This issue clearly can be seen in the debate over genetically modified organisms (GMOs).  In an effort to ensure an adequate food supply, large companies, such as Monsanto and DuPont, design seeds that are resistant to drought, disease and other adverse weather conditions that lead to soil erosion and depletion of nutrients.  The general perception is that research on these projects is undertaken with such a sense of urgency that caution generally is  thrown to the wind, and the quality of food and potentially harmful effects of GMOs have been considered less important than the quantity of food produced.  The consumers’ right to know the hazards of GMOs has been ignored largely through the refusal to even note on packaging that products contain genetically modified ingredients.  The outcry of environmentalists and supporters of the green movement is often criticized, based on the notion that GMOs represent the quickest solution to address the issue of crop failures and the resulting threat to the food supply.  The alternative of organic farming is considered  too costly, unpredictable and incapable of producing enough food to feed large populations.

A second area of concern over the ingredients in food can be found in numerous articles on the Internet denoting the “horrible” ingredients contained in food products.  The bad contents in food run the gamut from insect parts to carcinogens and unlisted animal byproducts.  Many of these ingredients are harmful to the body while others simply represent a violation of choices we are free to make, i.e., vegans and vegetarians have the right to not eat animal byproducts.  Refusal to label the contents of food ingredients violates the public’s right to know the contents of these foods.

The course of action needed to address the issue of labeling is twofold–legal and economic.  The legal solution is to revise the consumers’ right to know the contents contained in food.  Currently, food labeling laws address nutritional content, particularly in terms of calories, fat, cholesterol and other substances, such as sodium and percent of daily requirement of certain predetermined nutrients and vitamins.  The law in this regard desperately needs to be expanded to include other ingredients, which are unproven as to their safety, such as GMOs, or those that may be distasteful to certain people or deemed not in accordance with certain lifestyles.  This really is no different from stating that products contain ingredients that are known allergens, such as milk or peanuts.  The second course of action involves consumers using their buying power to speak for them.  This process starts with each of us educating ourselves on the reputable businesses that insist on selling products that label ingredients.  While these products may be more expensive now, that will change when they become the norm, rather than the exception.

Browsing the Web is a good place to start to learn about unacceptable ingredients in food.   Whole Foods has a great site with a list of unacceptable foods. [3]  Also, contact your legislators and voice your concern over the issue of food labeling and its importance to your family’s health.  We have to fight for our right to know the ingredients in our food and other products of daily living.  To do so is to live green, be green.

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1.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_know
2.  http://businessethicsblog.com/2010/10/01/consumers-right-to-information/
3.  http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/about-our-products/quality-standards/unacceptable-ingredients-food

Show You Care With Green Valentine Gifts

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Happy Valentine's Day...

Happy Valentine’s Day… (Photo credit: Јerry)

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and we here at LGBG wanted to offer a few suggestions for green Valentine’s Day celebrations that show how much you really care.  With a little imagination, you can plan a celebration that is romantic, affordable and more exciting than that usual annual Hallmark moment, complete with a card, cut flowers and large crowds and long lines at restaurants that are anything but intimate.

For starters, a written expression of love is a must.  It does not have to be a store-bought card.  It could be a letter, a poem or a list of all the things you love about the person receiving the gift.  It could be a handwritten IOU for a special event upcoming in the future.  Your special person definitely will appreciate the personal touch, thoughtfulness and creativity.  If you must give a store-bought card, make sure it is made from environmentally friendly recycled paper.

Flowers are perhaps the gift given most often on Valentine’s Day.  This year, break out of the box and try something different.  Rather giving “toxic” cut flowers that will die in a few days, choose a potted plant that will continue to grow for a long time (if cared for properly).  A perusal of websites on environmentally friendly plants reveals a lot of suggestions.  One of my favorite sites is:  http://www.thenewecologist.com/2009/07/top-10-natural-eco-friendly-and-anti-pollutant-houseplants/.  There you can find beautiful and often colorful houseplants that also are eco-friendly and anti-pollutant.  This gift could mark the start of a special activity in your relationship that fosters intimacy.  It also is a great gift for children, creating a learning opportunity on caring about nature.

Next, who doesn’t like chocolate, particularly on Valentine’s Day?  This year, try organic chocolate.  This is a great time to shop from fair trade vendors, who guarantee their products are organic and were made by workers who were treated fairly. Organic chocolate is made from cocoa beans that have not been treated with fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides.  Additionally, the other ingredients in the mix also are grown by organic methods– sugar, nuts, spices, etc.  Domestic organic chocolate are clearly labeled as such with a USDA Organic seal and with an organic percentage of 70% to 98%.  To earn this seal, this product must be free of preservatives, artificial color and GMOs.  Organic chocolate is more expensive than conventional chocolate, but the quality shows that you care.

If jewelry is on your list this year, consider antique jewelry or something retro that has very special meaning.  This presents another great opportunity to shop from fair trade vendors.

To cap off that romantic Valentine’s Day celebration, celebrate with organic wine.  Organic wine is made from grown with 100% organic ingredients that have been monitored closely throughout the growing process.  Domestic organic wines carry a USDA seal.  A great website with brands of organic wines is: http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/latest/best-organic-wines#slide-1.  Also, when I visited my local spirits shop, the salesperson was eager to “educate” me on organic wine, and I left the store with a great bottle of reasonably priced vino.

We hope you find something interesting to try in  these suggestions for a green Valentine’s Day.  Every little step towards a greener lifestyle helps to reduce our carbon footprint.  Use the opportunity of this upcoming Valentine’s Day to celebrate love, life, the earth and to live green, be green.

Food Labeling Controversy

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I think it is amazing that in the year 2012, there would be a contentious debate going on in this country regarding the rights of consumers to know whether or not their food contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs).  This controversy will appear on the ballot in the upcoming California general election.  If passed, it will require “labeling of foods sold to consumers made from plant or animals with genetic material changed in specific ways”.  It also would prohibit “marketing such foods, or other processed food, as ‘natural’.

Proponents of Prop 37 voice concerns that GMOs have been linked to allergies and other health problems, while opponents of the measure state that there is no scientific evidence that processed food with traces of GMOs pose a danger to humans.  The major issue posed by the opponents lies in the costs of regulation and verification, which would be the responsibility of the retailers and an undue burden to smaller stores and businesses.

The amazing part of this debate is that there is such a discussion going on questioning consumers’ rights to know what is in their food.  Also, I find it interesting that this is a big issue in America while 50 other countries in the world (which represents 40% of the world’s population) presently require GMO labeling.  These countries include all of Europe, Japan, India and China.  Also polls here show that 90% of Americans want to know if their food is genetically engineered.

In our present tumultuous political climate, we hear politicians at all levels making promises about what they will do for us and our country if elected.  Maybe we all should take a step back and question how these people want to help us in all these other areas but are willing to bend to big business and violate such a basic right as access to information regarding the contents of the food we eat.  We have the right to make informed decisions about our nutrition and it is up to us ensure this is the case and that our rights are not violated.  This is 2012, not the dark ages.  Access to facts on our food content is crucial to being able to live green, be green.