Let's Talk about Food

(FYI: This blog entry's writing style is mainly directed towards adults, but we would love for you to share the ideas with your kids - they can be part of the solution, too!)

In the past, we've mentioned Laurie's profound interest in food production and sustainability.  A few days ago, Laurie received an e-mail from The Food Democracy Now Team with information and statistics about some of the major problems affecting our food system.

There is currently a lot of information out there about the food industry problems, such as books like The Omnivore's Dilemma and documentaries like "Food, Inc." The information we most frequently hear is: "most of the meat, grain, milk — and even the grocery stores themselves — are all owned and controlled by just a few corporations." (quoted from the e-mail) We have a lot of facts about the problem, but the solution isn't always clear!

When we started writing today's blog, we wanted to offer some easy-to-follow (and afford) ways to avoid subscribing to these food problems - however, we were frustrated to find that it's REALLY tough to give foolproof advice, since nearly every major grocery store primarily stocks food owned by these major companies!

Laurie was talking about this issue as a working mom - she said it is sometimes really difficult to pack up her shopping bags, shopping cart, daughter, and work materials to walk the 8-10 blocks to the local Farmer's Market once a week in order to stock up on sustainable food.  She belongs to a CSA, but not everyone has access to these awesome programs.

So, we're asking YOU - how much do you think about where your food comes from?  Do you have any tips or ideas for working families to help buy food from local markets that don't support big business farming?  How easy is it to find food that fits your budget and lifestyle?  If you leave us comments with ideas, we will send your little ones an autographed postcard (be sure to leave your e-mail address so we can get in contact with you)!!

We would LOVE to offer some really good tips to our fans so that we can all be sure we are eating healthy, sustainable food that will fuel our lives and our spirits.  Let's take back our power to decide what we eat!

Below are some statistics from the e-mail Laurie received:

"• A single company (Monsanto) controls the seeds of 93% of soybeans and 80% of the corn grown in the U.S.3

• 4 companies (Tyson, Cargill, Swift & National Beef Packing Co.) control 83% of the beef packing industry4

• 4 companies (Smithfield, Tyson, Swift & Cargill) control 66% of the pork packing industry

For too long now, food and agricultural production has been consolidated into the hands of a few agribusiness giants. These companies dictate to us how our food is produced, how much farmers are paid for their crops and livestock and how much consumers pay for food."

To sign the petition to help break up big business in the food industry, Click Here!

Comments

[Jodi]

My local food bank also has a place to donate each week at the farmers market. I would encourage people to look into donating local produce to an organization that may help people that would otherwise not have access.

[Christina]

I am constantly thinking about the food we eat and where it came from, especially since I have a 2 and 4 yr old. I feel like their bodies are so tiny and new that they deserve only the best! Because organic food can cost a bit more than non organic, we have chosen a few things (fruits, veggies and milk) that we will always buy organic. I would recommend to everyone that they try a garden of their own! It is fun for the whole family, educational for the kids and, depending on the size of your garden, good exercise too :) If a garden is not possible and you don't have a farmers market, I would suggest that the next time you are planning a drive to see family, go camping or go ANYWHERE...stop at a farmers market or stand on the way back home! A couple of times a summer our family makes an 8 hour car ride to Northern NY to see my parents and I can't tell you how many fruit and Veggie stands we pass! There is also fresh honey, maple syrup, breads and eggs!!!! There are even locally grown food stands at the rest areas on the NYS thruway!!!! This can be a great way to buy "locally" for the city folk ;)

[Trish]

We also sometimes buy from the local meat market. We also have venison in the freezer which is healthy. We sometimes have local farmers sell out of their trucks around town, especially in the summer which is affordable. This is also the second summer we will have our own easy to manage garden (tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers..). We do buy alot of produce from a local grocery store and the labels say "Made in the U.S." which makes us feel better. I pay close attention to the sale ads - produce can get expensive and try to buy when things are on sale (i.e. raspberries, blueberries, pineapple...) ps-wish they had coupons for that! HTH - Love Ya Laurie!

[Sarah J]

Some great ideas! We have had a garden and did a kids' garden where they could plant what they wanted, along side. Brussels sprouts was a HUGE success last year. They were eating them raw off the plant. We're in the process of moving this summer, so doing a CSA instead. It's great because it's a line of credit so we can choose what and how much. We also raise our own chickens (eggs) and pigs. I really like knowing where my meat comes from, as much or more than the produce. Co-oping a garden with neighbors, raising chickens together, or trading work with a local orchard are some other ideas. Finding recipes that use whole foods and eating a lot of simply, local sourced foods is another goal of mine.

[Laura]

We buy most of our meats a local butcher shop. When it's in season, we visit the local farmer's market and also put in our own garden!

[Claudia]

We go once a week to a farm or farmstand in our area to buy our fresh ingredients for the week. We take the kids and make a family outing of it. They each get to chose something they'd like to eat for the week in addition to the meals we have planned, which for them is oftentimes something new.

And truthfully, a lot of our fresh items in the warmer months comes from our friends and family that garden. Often we are asked if we'd use a certain vegetable or herb that is in season that they have an abundance of, and we always say YES! It's free, healthy and not wasteful!

[Bridget Garrison]

Thank you for bringing my attention to this topic. I am inspired to try many of the tips shared by everyone. We have a small garden in our yard to plant vegetables. We also have gone to a local farm stand in the summer for fresh fruit. We check food labels, and try to buy all natural products free of artificial ingredients and preservatives.

[Hayley Palfreyman]

I try and buy my cheeses imported from the UK since they do not use hormones in their milk, and always by hormone free milks etc....I make all my own meals in my home and only buy all natural or organic meats. With regards to chocolate and candies for my kids, which we limit, i have swapped out all candies that use artificial colors and flavors and replaced with a natural alternative. I feel i will always be at battle with the schools and the food they serve, and will continue sending my children homemade lunches so i can be assured they are getting the right type of foods whilst it is still within y control.

[Marco Cabrera]

Due to my own health concerns, I had consulted a naturopathic doctor to see what I should do about losing weight, my sleep apnea, my fatigue. Basically every symptom of most adults and every person with type 2 diabetes. My health was slipping away, and I felt like I had no control. Of course, the topic came up on diet. "What are you eating?" This has proven to be the trickiest question anyone has ever asked me. After doing research, I learned so much about what I was eating, even the stuff I thought was healthy, was still manufactured with ingredients that weren't really food.

I learned that the labels for "Low Fat", "Low Carbs", "No Sugar", "Baked" all lead to a single point, they have replaced natural stuff, with unnatural stuff.

I worked with my doctor to change my diet to eating foods that were organically grown, naturally raised and as little processing as possible.

*Note about organic: it isn't just an expensive label. It talks to the point of each plant grown organically is grown without chemicals and allows the soil to sustain its nutrients.

In the past year, since I changed my diet, I have lost over 50 pounds, have energy to keep up with my toddler and just feel better all over. So, Quality food is important!

My wife and I have joined a CSA, as well as attending the farmers market.

From speaking with local farmers and planning out my own food, here is what I have come up with.

I think that everyone has a farm within driving distance. Go talk to the owners if there isn't a CSA. Even if you live in a big city, country is not too far away.

By going to a farm, to talk, or pick up your CSA share... You do three things:

1) You meeting the people who are growing your food.
2) You teach your kids that food isn't something that comes off a shelf
3) You can make learning about food, eating well, and enjoying nature an event for your family.

As a father, I think of my kids with almost everything I do. I want them to know where their food comes from, and what it is. That way, if they get something that is chemically processed, they are aware that it is a decision that they are making.

My other tip would be: know that every time you make a purchase, you are making a choice and supporting someone. Who are you supporting?

One last thing, then I will stop, I swear! I had many vegetarian friends who made that life choice because they didn't like how cruelly the animals were treated. They were completely unaware that they could further their point by actually going to a farm, and supporting a local farmer who humanely raises and naturally feeds their animals. Supporting these local farmers, will strengthen them, which takes away money from the organizations that cruelly treat animals.

Ever purchase is a choice!

P.S. to the band: We really love your music.

Marco Cabrera
[email protected]

[Ido]

We did some research on which fruits and veggies we should buy organic (since they contain high amount of pesticides), whether which produce are okay to consume also in their 'regular' version. Then we made the nice card that you can see here:
http://idoroll.org/files/buy_organic.pdf

Print it, fold, put in your wallet, and live happily ever after. This card ended up saving us much money and giving us a much better diet.

[Jennifer Kilpatrick]

We have a garden every summer and grow alot of goodies there. My daughter loves to help water and weed the garden and loves to watch the plants grow and take shape. We also swap items from our garden with neighbors! We are blessed to have alot of local farmer's markets around us in the warmer months. We also have a couple of local Ma and Pa stores that stock there shelves and cases with items locally or right over the WI line. I clip coupons on other items and get them for next to nothing or free. (Do not feel so bad when I am not spending my money to support them, am spending theirs!) I follow a local ladies coupon blog, I do not have the time to look thru all the ads. I buy a couple papers, pull the coupon inserts, date them and put them in a file, than on Monday's I log on to her blog, pull and clip what I need and make my shopping list! It has saved my family ALOT of money, and with the money that I save on the staple items, I am able to spend a little more on the items that are locally grown and support our local farmers!! Hope this helps!! God Bless!!

[Kristen]

As someone said before, making things from scratch is a good way to go. I wouldn't dream of buying snack foods in a supermarket when I could just bake them myself. As an added bonus my daughter can help Mommy with the cookies or whatnot.
Gardening is another thing that can be a bit of a fun, playtime activity. The problem with that is, not being able to do it all year round. I'll admit to frozen veggies...

[jengd]

As a general rule, I try not to buy processed foods like store-bought cookies, cakes, etc. other than an occasional "late-night treat" for my husband and I. I find that the organic produce and local farmers markets are priced WAY too high so while I'd love to go in that direction, I don't tend to buy from them. Instead, I just try to make smart choices in the "normal" aisles and make foods from scratch, making substitutions like applesauce for oil as much as possible.

[Karen Fauth]

I come from a small town that does not have many farmers markets and/or whole foods stores. Our local grocery stores offer some organic foods, but the selection is lacking. My sister works for a local museum, and as part of the museum's education program, she has started an organic community garden. Anyone from the community can volunteer to help, whether it be donating seeds, helping tend the garden, etc., and all those who participate get to bring home some of the harvest. My sister is now working with schools, community leaders and neighborhood associations to start more community gardens in the area. Community gardens provide an opportunity for children and adults from our area to learn more about healthy living, while providing people like me, who are trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle for our families, with an opportunity to access locally grown, organic foods. It is a great program!

[Melanie Dickerson]

I think that we as Americans don't take the idea of eating/meals as seriously as we should. We think of it as something that should be quick and easy. Not only the preparing of it but the eating of it too. We don't take the time to enjoy what we've made and be proud of the effort that was put into it. We lived in Germany for 3 years and we would walk to the corner market and shop almost daily for fresh fruits/veggies/meats. That's how they live. They WALK to buy what they need for the days 'fresh' meal. We tend to want to get it all done for the month in an hours time. Which leads us to also not care as much about where its coming from. Think about the number of food illnesses that come from the fact that we mass produce our food. Scarey. Now that we're back in the States we try hard to buy from the local farmers market and from local farms as much as possible.

[Donna D]

We have weekly local farmer's markets, but I inevitably forget which day is in which town or miss the hours it's open. I did find a few local farms though that run their own food stands every day, and they are not too far out of the way for me and my daily travels taking the kids to and from where ever.

[Heather Miller]

We live in Philadelphia and have a little produce stand a block away, so we're lucky. When we lived in NJ, there was a program through the local church called SHARE. You would only pay half price for locally grown produce. So, everyone benefits!
The link is:
http://www.sharefoodprogram.org/
We loved it and we didn't have to walk 10 blocks!

Thanks for the awesome music!

Take Care,
The Miller Family
[email protected]

[Mika Hilbers]

I'm a working mom too and have some of the same issues Laurie and her family have. We're very lucky to live in beautiful Portland, OR and have great CSA's and farmer's markets. But what I've been doing is trying to shop in bulk. I realize you can't buy a case of apples and eat them all right away, but we try to buy all of our dry goods in bulk so that way our grocery shopping can just focus on trips for perishable things like tomatoes or milk. I've also coordinated off and on with switching with a friend every other week ( i'll grab your stuff this week, you grab mine next week ). We turned our frontyard into edible landscape, but I realize everyone doesn't have that opportunity!
btw, my daughter sings Victor Vito everytime we go near rutabagas! Good discussion Laurie, thanks!

[Juliet]

My oldest son is autistic. I am also pregnant with my third child (first daughter) and have developed an intolerance to gluten. So I am paying extra careful attention to what goes into our bodies.

Joining a local co-op helps. They do stock some of the national natural food brands, but also a LOT of local products and produce.

Juliet

[email protected]

[Dani]

Lately I have been inspired to try to buy more local foods. Unfortunately, once I started reading labels, I found out that most of the "fresh" produce available came from other continents! I have really been trying to read labels and choose my food accordingly. I talk with my daughter and explain that even though she sees certain fruits at the market, we won't be eating them in our house until we see them at our local farmer's market (i.e. they are available locally). It's surprising that even in Southern California, there are so many products flown in from so far away just so we can enjoy them out of season.

I also try very hard to only buy organic soy and corn. it's so scary that Monsanto can control the majority of soy and corn - and create genetically modified versions without us knowing we are buying them! Only organic (i.e. NOT genetically modified) corn and soy for us!

Thanks LBB for starting such a great discussion!

[Cathy North]

Since finding out our oldest son is autistic, I've been on a quest to find things that will help him. One of the biggest things has been what we are putting into our bodies. I've found a local farmer where we can buy chicken and beef. He raises them free range without antibiotics and growth hormones. We also get eggs and in season produce from his farm (grown organically). It took a bit of research to find him, he doesn't advertise other than word of mouth. We have also started growing our own veggies and herbs, though I'm not very good at it yet...practice makes perfect. My advice is to be diligent in making choices that are good for your body and for the environment.

[Donald Facenbake]

Since our twin girls seem to be lactose intolerant, since they got off isomil when they were a year old, it's been tough to find more suitable alternatives to Lactaid, which is, on the average, 3 times as expensive as milk. There are a number of other lactose-free milks hitting the market here in new jersey but they are all expensive too so we try to cut corners other places to accomidate them. I plant a little tomato garden every year and I'd love to get them to help me this year, they'll be 2 in july and I doubt they are going to understand much, but if they pick it up early, I'm hoping they get a love for it and want to do it in the future and even give me ideas of what they would like to plant so they can feel 100% a part of it.

we love to hit farmers markets in the late summer and fall for apples and corn and such which are in abundance around here. Most of all I want to teach our children to eat healthy and smart and am glad that they have already gained a great love of peaches and apples. It's things like that that let me and my wife know we are on the right track with their diet. hopefully we can continue to impart the "right foods" knowledge onto our kids so they can live healthy lives

[Stephanie C]

This may not be exactly on topic, but it has to do with food costs. Something unique I found when I was a single mom is the SHARE program. Another is a food program by Angel Food Ministries. You do not need to qualify to participate. That was important to me, because even though I had a good job, being a single mom of 2 and recovering from divorce left me broke. SHARE is a program where you pay for a SHARE package one month, do 2 hours of volunteer work of your choosing, and pick up your package the next month. Angel Food Ministries is similar without the volunteer requirement. Their website is https://www.angelfoodministries.com/

Local SHARE affiliates can be found in your phonebook or online, there is not a national website. An article about SHARE on the Dollar Stretcher is here: http://www.stretcher.com/stories/990531k.cfm

[Jessica Cobb]

We buy at a produce market that offers seasonal fruits and veggies from local farmers. Since I do a lot of freezer cooking I buy a lot in bulk to save on the cost too. It supports farmers in our area and ends up being about the same cost as a trip to a bigger grocer. It also makes meal time easier knowing that I already have everything we need for a round meal in the fridge/freezer without worrying about taking it out of a cardboard box with who-knows-what types of preservatives and chemicals.

[Robin]

Our local co-op has a farmer's market, and it's so much cheaper to buy produce there (organic and local and less $$ than the grocery store's conventional!). We grow all the herbs and veggies we can in our yard, and freeze up for the winters. This year I'll make the leap into canning.

The best thing you can do is get to know your neighbors! There's no reason why you can't work together to organize a farmer's market, or start a community garden on an unused lot. Or one neighbor can grow exclusively tomatoes, another one peppers, and so on, and you can swap regularly (your own CSA!).

If we want sustainable meats, dairy and produce to become readily available and affordable, we have to support our local farms NOW, even though it's more expensive. Otherwise they won't BE there when we have more money to spend! Vote with your dollar.