Honey, don't eat that strawberry. You don't know where it's been.

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Honey, don't eat that strawberry. You don't know where it's been.

by Marion Owen on Sat 29 Apr 2006 04:32 PM AKDT | Permanent Link

| Cosmos

You're standing in the produce department, checking out the displays

of fruit. The little baskets of strawberries catch your eye. Hmm, a

strawberry shortcake would be nice for dessert, and tomorrow you

could slice a few berries over your granola.

 

Nice thoughts; bad idea.

 

Why? Let's first get out of the cereal bowl and look at the big

picture.

 

If you are concerned about oil prices and global warming, consider

this: It takes 400 calories of fossil fuels to transport a single 5-

calorie strawberry from California to East Coast supermarkets.

What's more, that bright red, but flavorless strawberry was probably

grown with methyl bromide, a carcinogenic and ozone depleting

pesticide. [Reported by the Organic Consumers Association]

 

Still considering strawberry shortcake? Here are a few more things

to think about when you're at the grocery store:

 

+ Studies also show that the more `food miles' that food travels

from farm to plate, the less nutritious it is. And with the average

food traveling more than 1,500 miles to reach your plate, the

environmental impact of big agribusiness foods is at an all time

high.

 

+ The typical American prepared meal contains, on average,

ingredients from a least five countries outside the United States.

 

+ The average time spent preparing the evening meal in United States:

-- In 1954: 2.5 hours

-- In 2004: 6.5 minutes

 

Sad.

 

Going back to the flavorless strawberries in the produce section, in

contrast, a patch of strawberries grown in your yard or in a

container on your porch comes back on its own every year. What's

more, the berries require no fossil fuels and no pesticides, and

they taste a whole lot better. The environmental, spiritual and

health benefits of growing some of your own food are staggering.

 

We're a nation of convenience (convenient stores, fast food, cell

phones, day care) so is it any wonder the U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA) reports that home gardening, that is, home food

production, is at its lowest point in U.S. history?

 

There is an easy solution, and when I tell you, you're going to tap

the side of your head and mutter, " Gee, why didn't I think of that? "

 

First of all, and this is probably the most obvious: buy organic.

 

Next, if you don't have one already, then start your own vegetable

garden, whether it's on your own land or in a local community plot.

No room for a garden? No excuse. You can grow carrots, salad greens,

tomatoes and hundreds of other edibles in containers. [A great

book: " The Bountiful Container, " by McGee and Stuckey.]

 

The bottom line is, you can't afford not to grow at least some of

what you eat. George Monbiot, one of Britain's leading radical

thinkers and a respected spokesman for green values says, " We're

going to see a great resurgence of interest in growing your own

because it will become expensive to transport fresh food using

fossil fuels. "

 

Finally, it's about your health. Remember Jack LaLanne? He's now 92

years young. He had the first nationally syndicated exercise show on

TV. In his interview with WebMD.com, he shares his philosophy on

health and living:

 

" I tell people, living is a pain in the butt. Dying is easy. It's

like an athletic event. You've got to train for it. You got to eat

right. You got to exercise. You've got to have goals and challenges.

Forget the good old days. What you do this moment controls the next

moment. Your health account, your bank account, they're the same

thing. The more you put in, the more you can take out. "

 

Jack maintains that it's never too late to make a change. That's why

I'm asking you, what are you growing in your garden?