Do you care where your food comes from? Do you eat local?

[Planogirl]

I tend to use the cheap beef for things like spaghetti too!

I have been seeing more and more free range chicken products and so on in the stores so that bodes well. The problem is knowing whether they are actually free range of course but I expect to see more and more of this.

I do wonder what to do when veggies and fruits are out of season though. So much comes from South America and Mexico! I can't see me canning things though.

 

[AmongMadPeople]

I don't think there is any one right response to the OP's dilemma. As I've embarked on my personal "green" discovery, I've realized that you can't do it all, and you simply have to pick what is important to you.

I like that the grass fed beef I buy is better for my husband's cholesterol than the stuff sitting on super market shelves. I like walking into the butcher's and getting exactly what I want instead of what I can find on the shelves. I like that the food I buy supports my state's economy in multiple ways, from the farmer of the animals to the farmer of the food those animals eat. Heck, I like that the employees at the butcher shop recognize me when I walk through the door!

Yes, the meat and eggs (and milk if I did it) I buy are way more expensive than what I used to get at the super market, but that has only made me a more conscientious consumer of the meats I buy and eat. I value my food in a way I never did before.

Unfortunately I didn't start my journey until the fall, so I wasn't able to buy and preserve my state's wonderful produce. But like I said, it's a journey and I just work on improving things over time

 

[npmommie]

Thanks to Michael Pollan, my family now puts a lot of thought into where our food is coming from. I think about all those people who care so much about where every part of their car is made, yet they never seem to worry about what is contained in the food going into their bodies?!?!?

Since we started our own food "revolution" we are now getting our meats from a grass farm within 5 minutes of our house. All our veggies are now coming from local growers/farmer's markets. It's actually a lot of fun.

The thing is, we're not really doing it for "health" reasons, but for the conservation aspect of it. Also for the fact that for every family that removes themselves from the industrial food complex, that's another vote AGAINST all of their practices. I may not make a difference on my own, but I'm amazed at how quickly the words of Mr. Pollan are spreading, and soon there may be enough of us to make an impact.

I tend to use the cheap beef for things like spaghetti too!

I have been seeing more and more free range chicken products and so on in the stores so that bodes well. The problem is knowing whether they are actually free range of course but I expect to see more and more of this.

I do wonder what to do when veggies and fruits are out of season though. So much comes from South America and Mexico! I can't see me canning things though.

thats what I was wondering too.
what are those that shop the farmers markets doing in winter when there is no local produce in the northeast?
I was thinking of freezing, maybe getting one of those things I saw at walmart that puts the air out, to freeze the veggies, don't know if that would work though and how long they would stay good in the freezer.

I don't see myself canning, it seems like a huge process to me, not sure about that.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

thats what I was wondering too.
what are those that shop the farmers markets doing in winter when there is no local produce in the northeast?
I was thinking of freezing, maybe getting one of those things I saw at walmart that puts the air out, to freeze the veggies, don't know if that would work though and how long they would stay good in the freezer.

I don't see myself canning, it seems like a huge process to me, not sure about that.

Getting one of the FoodSaver things is a big help! But there are the "winter" staples; potatoes can be stored, and mushrooms/sprouts, etc. can usually be found all year long.

ETA: If you have a local farm that has a year-round store (like we do nearby) you can talk to the farmer, and sometimes they will can/preserve/store whatever you'd like for the Winter, provided you are a good customer, and will buy the food.

 

[MzDiz]

I care very much about where my food comes from. But being a vegetarian in Michigan, eating seasonally can be a little difficult. I'm all over the local produce in the warmer months, but if I want a salad in January (and I do) I'm stuck with buying lettuce that's been on a trip.
I won't buy certain things off season though. Eating strawberries in June and pumpkin soup in November makes them a special treat. I sorta like it that way.

 

[Colleen27]

I buy local as much as possible, which isn't to say 100%. None of us are willing to give up citrus or coffee or bananas to be able to say we ONLY eat local foods. I don't mind knowing my coffee has been shipped from thousands of miles away, but why should I buy beef or pork or apples or corn that has been shipped in when there are farmers producing those same things right here in my county/state? I'd much rather cut down on my contribution to the fossil fuels used in that nonsensical system and support my local economy in the process.

 

[Sleepy]

I do care about where my food comes from. That is why I try to make sure I don't buy anything that was grown locally.

 

[Colleen27]

thats what I was wondering too.
what are those that shop the farmers markets doing in winter when there is no local produce in the northeast?
I was thinking of freezing, maybe getting one of those things I saw at walmart that puts the air out, to freeze the veggies, don't know if that would work though and how long they would stay good in the freezer.

I don't see myself canning, it seems like a huge process to me, not sure about that.

I do very, very little canning. It is a lot more work than freezing and I like fresh-frozen better than canned, even home canned, for most things. I still make and can homemade jam using my grandmother's recipe and I can some tomato products (salsa and chili starter, mainly), but most things I freeze. You don't need a gimmick to do it - for most produce it is as simple as blanching, cooling, and freezing on a cookie sheet, then transferring to freezer bags/containers.

Of course, the "catch" to freezing veggies is that you need the space for everything you put up. We have an upright freezer as well as a chest freezer in our basement, and in the fall when most of the harvest is stored and our 1/4 cow comes in from the farm, both are pretty full. Somewhere around January, I can usually consolidate everything down to one and unplug the other until I need it again, but I definitely need the extra freezer space to store the extra from my gardens plus the stuff I buy at the farmer's market to preserve.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

local organic, then local, then organic, then other.

 

[Colleen27]

The thing is, we're not really doing it for "health" reasons, but for the conservation aspect of it.

Same here. It is such a no-brainer to me. Why in the world should I be going to the store and buying Idaho potatoes or Washington apples or Wisconsin milk when all of those things are produced within a hundred or so miles of my home?

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Same here. It is such a no-brainer to me. Why in the world should I be going to the store and buying Idaho potatoes or Washington apples or Wisconsin milk when all of those things are produced within a hundred or so miles of my home?

Or even in your own backyard!
Our local "extension" office is now running classes every year on how to be sustainable on less than 2 acres of land. People in my neighborhood (where we each have a postage stamp-sized yard) are even learning to plant fruits and veggies, even Corn(!), in the small spaces we have. The classes are great, and it's really satisfying eating from a place that's as "local" as it can get!

 

[mykidsand_i]

I was watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution the other day, and he said that frozen produce is better than fresh in most cases, since it is frozen within hours after being picked, whereas the stuff on the produce shelf at walmart has (in some cases) traveled the world before making it to your table.

I had no idea that frozen was better than fresh before that, I guess I'd never thought about it, but now I'm making a conscious decision to pick frozen over fresh.

Yeah, I've heard that from him and a few other places as well. The only way that frozen is the unhealthy option is if it's packed in a sauce or has added salts- which most of them don't.

A lot of the produce at walmart is sprayed with a chemical (just because people can eat that chemical doesn't mean it's healthy for us) to make it look better, longer. A lot of strawberries that come from a ways (if they aren't picked in your local area) have a chemical sprayed on them to stay red longer- and firm. No matter how well they are washed, there are still amounts of it left on the berry. Same goes for tomatoes and many other fruits and veggies.

We have a wonderful farmers market here durring the summer. AND two 'pick your own' farms with lots of fresh fruits and veggies. I do A LOT of picking and freezing over the summer months to get us through the fall, winter and early spring. Some people don't have the freezer space or shelf space- My family is blessed that we can have that! It's understandable that people can't 'afford to eat healthy' and when the world has come to that, it's a sad place to be.

 

[mykidsand_i]

Or even in your own backyard!
Our local "extension" office is now running classes every year on how to be sustainable on less than 2 acres of land. People in my neighborhood (where we each have a postage stamp-sized yard) are even learning to plant fruits and veggies, even Corn(!), in the small spaces we have. The classes are great, and it's really satisfying eating from a place that's as "local" as it can get!

We had a class about a year ago here like that and it was WONDERFUL!!!! I didn't have to buy any tomatoes almost this entire year- because we had SO MANY of them...my kids were eating them like apples, I made a TON of marinara, chopped them, blanched them, canned them, froze them, you name it!!! I haven't bought a can of tomatoes for about 10 months now!

We have a small yard too, but our class taught us how to make 'raised beds' (we don't have room in our yard to 'dig' for a garden because of the underground wiring, water, cable...) in our raised bed we planted an herb garden and grew these awesome little parisian carrots, peas, green beans...

Our city also rents out garden plots just a mile away from my house- $25 for the entire summer! I think that's a great price! We rented one this year for the first time. I can't wait to get out there! AND, the best part about it is that it's got a water sprinkler system that goes off for every 'plot' and the city shuts it off if it's been raining. Some people rent 3-4 plots, there's NO WAY I could do that much, but we'll see how it goes this year.

 

[Colleen27]

Or even in your own backyard!
Our local "extension" office is now running classes every year on how to be sustainable on less than 2 acres of land. People in my neighborhood (where we each have a postage stamp-sized yard) are even learning to plant fruits and veggies, even Corn(!), in the small spaces we have. The classes are great, and it's really satisfying eating from a place that's as "local" as it can get!

I grow quite a bit on my 1/4 acre and every season I get a little better at small-space growing. I've been using the square foot gardening method, more or less, for a few years now and it works really well for us. This year I'm trying my hand at espalier fruit trees to squeeze even more into the space I have and incorporating wild blueberry bushes and sweet potatoes into the "decorative" landscaping. But for right now, I draw the line at animals - I could have a few laying hens according to city code, but we travel, often on the spur of the moment, and I don't want to hassle with finding a babysitter for them - and our limited space means there's no way I can grow as much as my kids eat so I'm glad for living in a small town with lots of farmer's markets and local farmers who sell directly to customers.

 

[Sparx]

Yeah, I've heard that from him and a few other places as well. The only way that frozen is the unhealthy option is if it's packed in a sauce or has added salts- which most of them don't.

A lot of the produce at walmart is sprayed with a chemical (just because people can eat that chemical doesn't mean it's healthy for us) to make it look better, longer. A lot of strawberries that come from a ways (if they aren't picked in your local area) have a chemical sprayed on them to stay red longer- and firm. No matter how well they are washed, there are still amounts of it left on the berry. Same goes for tomatoes and many other fruits and veggies.

We have a wonderful farmers market here durring the summer. AND two 'pick your own' farms with lots of fresh fruits and veggies. I do A LOT of picking and freezing over the summer months to get us through the fall, winter and early spring. Some people don't have the freezer space or shelf space- My family is blessed that we can have that! It's understandable that people can't 'afford to eat healthy' and when the world has come to that, it's a sad place to be.

I think its awful that fruit/veggies/meat is the most expensive food items when those are what we need!

 

[PaulaSB12]

Thats why I have an allotment even the best frozen doesn't compare to fresh picked, and I am experimenting as well I have eaten butternut squash but that is the only squash so I have 8 types of winter squash and 2 types of summer squash plus 3 pumpkins (I intend to put one in the winter for the trick or treating). Plus I get all the excersise of gardening for £12 per year.