food for thought
Or, at the very least, food to think about. I was catching up on my reading through Google Reader (I heart google reader) and came across this post which really got me thinking. Ann has apparently been reading this book which is about one family’s journey to consume only locally grown foods for one year. Her post really got me thinking, especially when I read this quote:
“If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That’s not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make big differences. Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast. (p. 5, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY, 2007.)”
We do so much in our home to recycle and use fewer resources, in fact, we’ve already stopped drinking bottled water for the same reason. At the same time, we are very dependent on the produce and packaged foods that our shipped to our grocery store. It is amazing to think that such a small act can have such a large impact on the environment and the world in general. I had never given it much thought to buying locally grown foods before.
I have tried to shop at our local Whole Foods but it has not gotten the nickname Whole Paycheck for no reason! It is expensive to purchase locally/organically grown foods and unfortunately it is a sad cycle. The local foods cost more and so less people purchase them but if more people purchased them, the prices would probably go down and they would perhaps be more available.
But what about my local farmer’s market? Well, I never gave it much thought before except to remember that it is on Saturday mornings….early on Saturday mornings…too early for me to want to get up and go. That just seems like a very very lame excuse especially faced with the fact that being willing to get up early could make such a positive change! No more being lazy for me.
My only concern is that when I have purchased produce from the farmer’s market, it is ripe and ready to eat. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that fact but if it doesn’t get eaten in a couple of days, it goes bad even if we keep it in the fridge.
Anyone have tips on how to keep the fruit and veggies fresher longer?
For more info on where you can buy locally grown foods in your area visit Local Harvest
Food for thought indeed!
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