The last two years saw E. coli infect leafy greens and beef products. Reviewing what happened, it seems one producer was responsible for the growing, packaging or shipping of the infected food products in question. Examining the illnesses associated with these outbreaks and the deaths, we should take a good look at our own purchasing and eating habits. Maybe it’s time we started being concerned about where our food comes from and who handles it.
Improperly grown, produced, packaged or handled foods can become poison on our tables. Relying on a single source ups the odds that something that could go wrong is going to happen on a massive scale. We have seen this in action. We should not ignore the warnings.
It is not just the large commercial growers and packers. Organically grown produce has become large scale production over the past few years and large organic farms can have issues as well. Incorrectly composted manure on fields or contaminated water supplies can be fuel for an E. coli outbreak just as fast from the organic fields as it can be in the commercial fields.
As I said, we need to examine our sources for food, our diets and our way of thinking when it comes to where we get our foods and how we buy our foods. The movement to move to locally grown produce for the larger part of our intake of fresh produce may not be a bad idea, but it still does not guarantee that our foods will be clean and healthy when it gets to our table.
Locally grown produce will give us fresher foods as it does not have to travel as far or stay in storage as long. While we may not be getting those exotic fruits and veggies we all want to have, for our staples it would seem logical to want to obtain the nearest, freshest produce for our everyday tables.
We all cannot grow our own foods, and there is no guarantee that everything that comes to our tables will be free from contaminates. But following ecologically sound practices, which every pagan does strive for, we can look to supporting locally grown produce from local farms. Locating local farms is not all that difficult in most rural areas, you may even have some farms local to you that would welcome new business. Urban centers will have to compromise a bit, but weekend farmers markets would provide a monthly excuse to drive into the country to get really fresh foods in season.
Check into Local Harvest for farm markets and farms local to you. Spend some time considering what you want on your table and how it will provide healthy food for you and your family. And if you have the ability to grow some foods yourself, try some tomatoes or peppers this year. Nothing like fresh produce from your garden to make you feel like you are making the best use of the land the Goddess has given us.
Maybe we should also start looking at proper food preparation and clean food handling processes in our own homes. This could help combat some of the other issues that could come from poor food handling on the farm, in shipping and in storage. Proper washing, cooking and storing of foods is critical to keeping those fresh foods staying fresh. Proper preparation and cooking will not steal those precious vitamins and food proteins if we learn to do it properly.
So, maybe some cooking lessons are in order. Get those fresh food cookbooks out of storage and visit a local farmers market when the season starts coming in.
Boudica
Improperly grown, produced, packaged or handled foods can become poison on our tables. Relying on a single source ups the odds that something that could go wrong is going to happen on a massive scale. We have seen this in action. We should not ignore the warnings.
It is not just the large commercial growers and packers. Organically grown produce has become large scale production over the past few years and large organic farms can have issues as well. Incorrectly composted manure on fields or contaminated water supplies can be fuel for an E. coli outbreak just as fast from the organic fields as it can be in the commercial fields.
As I said, we need to examine our sources for food, our diets and our way of thinking when it comes to where we get our foods and how we buy our foods. The movement to move to locally grown produce for the larger part of our intake of fresh produce may not be a bad idea, but it still does not guarantee that our foods will be clean and healthy when it gets to our table.
Locally grown produce will give us fresher foods as it does not have to travel as far or stay in storage as long. While we may not be getting those exotic fruits and veggies we all want to have, for our staples it would seem logical to want to obtain the nearest, freshest produce for our everyday tables.
We all cannot grow our own foods, and there is no guarantee that everything that comes to our tables will be free from contaminates. But following ecologically sound practices, which every pagan does strive for, we can look to supporting locally grown produce from local farms. Locating local farms is not all that difficult in most rural areas, you may even have some farms local to you that would welcome new business. Urban centers will have to compromise a bit, but weekend farmers markets would provide a monthly excuse to drive into the country to get really fresh foods in season.
Check into Local Harvest for farm markets and farms local to you. Spend some time considering what you want on your table and how it will provide healthy food for you and your family. And if you have the ability to grow some foods yourself, try some tomatoes or peppers this year. Nothing like fresh produce from your garden to make you feel like you are making the best use of the land the Goddess has given us.
Maybe we should also start looking at proper food preparation and clean food handling processes in our own homes. This could help combat some of the other issues that could come from poor food handling on the farm, in shipping and in storage. Proper washing, cooking and storing of foods is critical to keeping those fresh foods staying fresh. Proper preparation and cooking will not steal those precious vitamins and food proteins if we learn to do it properly.
So, maybe some cooking lessons are in order. Get those fresh food cookbooks out of storage and visit a local farmers market when the season starts coming in.
Boudica
1 comments:
It doesn't help that since the deportation of illegal immigrants, many U.S. farmers are moving their farms south of the border where there are even less restrictions on proper growing conditions, pesticides etc. because, they cannot get the labor here to pick their crops. Crops that end up laying in the fields and rotting.
I think you are right, it is time to be concerned where our food comes from and who is handling it.
http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/2/ora_oasis_c_mx.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/10/AR2007061001357.html
http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum/2007%20Speeches/PDF%20speeches/FarmerP.pdf
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