The Almost Green Mom

I’m baaaaaack!  Sorry for the hiatus, but having a second daughter will do that to you!  Yes, I am proud to announce the birth of my second daughter, and I cannot be happier.  Now that I’m back in the newborn world again, I look forward to providing some blogs specific to newborn gear and products I continue to love, and those I feel you can do without.  Onto the blog for today…

The answer is…YES!!!!!

Let me start by saying that I understand that going 100% organic can be nearly impossible, whether that be lack of availability of items (although this seems to be getting better) or more likely, lack of sufficient funds to buy what is sometimes a $4 organic apple (don’t get me started on why a fast food hamburger is cheaper than an organic apple – I have promised not to venture into the land of subsidies and politics!).

So, why does organic matter?  A simple answer is that it’s one of the only ways we can have transparency and assuredness that the food we are consuming has been raised / grown in a high quality way, without the use of some really gross and unhealthy things.

Why should we care?  Because it impacts the quality of our food as well as our health.  We no longer live in the time where we grow (all of) our own food or at least source it from neighborhood farms.  Our country’s (and most of the developed world’s for that matter) food supply chain has changed dramatically in the past century, as well as in just the past few decades.  Not only do we not source our food locally, but long gone also are the days when farmers used heirloom seeds from ancestors which produced the tastiest and most nutrient dense food around.

So, what happened and how did we get here?  Our food supply chain changed DRAMATICALLY due to a variety of factors such as a growing global population, increasing and changing demand for food as well as a government push for various food items based on crop yields (again, I’m trying really hard to not get into the politics of this, but remember the huge push for breakfast cereals and wheat-based food items like bagels?).  In addition, the composition of our food has changed – the nutrient profile is very different from even a decade ago.  There was / is a view that in order to produce sufficient food for our global needs, modifications to the food (i.e. GMOs, or genetically modified organisms), fertilizers, pesticides, hormones and other items are required to boost crop output per acre, meat per animal, etc.  In essence, as much of our modern food supply is created in a lab as in a field.

As a result, today we walk through warehouse-sized grocery stores filled with innumerable goods to purchase.  The produce looks shiny and pristine; the meat looks fresh and many other items are packaged with labels citing things like “natural” on them.  Everything looks healthy and fresh…well, most likely that’s because of the various sprays and additives used to make the food look this way.  Take a closer look – you’ll notice that most of the conventional (non organic) food are not locally produced and seem to have amazing shelf lives.  So, where does our food come from?  As discussed above, most families no longer live on farms, rather the farms have become gargantuan pieces of land where high volumes of crops are needed to sustain profitability (or even to break even).  Large companies like Monsanto and Syngenta have monopolized the seed markets, resulting in crops that are generally uniform in shape, taste and yield (as well as having similar fertilizer and weed / infestation control).  In addition to traditional seed-based farming, our animal farming has “revolutionized” to feed the mass markets – overcrowding, growth hormones and antibiotics to name a few.  Similarly, most of our animal products are also not locally grown, but instead are part of a mechanized supply chain meant to focus on volumes.  As a result, most of the produce and animal products in traditional grocery stores looks the same.

But, aren’t there laws and federal organizations to ensure our food is safe?    I won’t get into the elaborate details of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its role in our food supply chain, as that would take pages and pages (and I would get too political).  However, the basic premise is that it was formed to ensure the U.S. population is eating healthy food and food that is prepared and marketed in a way that is not detrimental to us.  But, I personally have a very hard time believing the FDA is up to snuff when the public is notified of tainted meat months (sometimes years) after it has been sold in stores.  Nope, not good enough.

So, this is where organic comes into play.  If you see the stamp of “USDA Organic” on an item, it means that it must have an ingredient list and those ingredients must be at least 95% certified organic.  If you see a stamp of “natural”, it MEANS NOTHING – there is no mandated definition of natural, and it is only an advertising ploy to make the consumer believe the product is healthy.  So, what defines organic?

• No pesticides
• No synthetic fertilizers
• No sewage sludge (gross, this must mean it is used for conventional)
• No ionizing radiation
• No antibiotics for meat or dairy
• No growth hormones for meat or dairy
• No GMOs (genetically modified organisms – scary little buggers if you ask me)

You know the organic food movement is picking up steam when traditional grocery stores advertise and stock their shelves with organic products.  We will always have the stores like Whole Foods and local co-ops which routinely stock this sort of product, but we must have more mainstream demand to result in change.

So, what do we do?  Eating organic (and hopefully locally) is one of the ways I can ensure my family is consuming foods that are traceable – meaning, I know where they came from, how they were produced and what steps were taken to ensure the integrity of that food.  No, we don’t have fields and fields of fruits and vegetables we harvest at home year round, nor do we have chicken coops in the back yard for fresh eggs (although that sounds amazing).  We shop at a variety of stores for organic produce (Whole Foods, Sprouts, Safeway, etc.) and many times I choose things based on price.  We also use a weekly organic food delivery company called Door to Door Organics (check it out – I get no referral for this.  Amazing online business which delivers high quality organic produce to your door weekly in a fully customizable box). For meat, we always buy organic – it only takes a little bit of research to understand how disturbing our meat supply chain has become in this country.

So, I say buy as much organic as you can.  If it’s not available in your local stores, potentially look into delivery services and/or local sources.  If going fully organic isn’t an option, focus on meat (if you eat it) and the “dirty dozen” –  a list of 12 produce items which routinely test positive for a bevy of chemicals (celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, domestic blueberries, nectarines, sweet bell peppers, spinach / kale / collard greens, cherries, potatoes, imported grapes, lettuce).

Love & Peace,

The Almost Green Mom

RESOURCES

National Geographic – “Feeding 9 Billion”

Brookings Institute – “Can 10 billion people live and eat well on the planet?  Yes”