Where does the produce you buy come from and is it fresh?
The distance traveled: Food miles and Country of Origin Labeling (COOL).
Where does your food come from and how does it get to the food market?
The spoilage problem explains why the produce sections of supermarkets used to be limited in variety to whatever was in season, grown locally, or brought in from places no more than a few days away. The invention of trains, trucks, and airplanes lengthened the distances that foods could travel. Refrigeration changed everything. The ability to keep fruits and vegetables cold from the instant they are picked to the moment you put them in your shopping cart – what the food industry calls the “cold chain” – means that produce sections are no longer constrained by growing location or season. You expect to buy strawberries whenever you want them, and you can.
Just about all produce, excepting herbs, is trucked to your supermarket. For a large supermarket chain with its own distribution system, a head of broccoli undergoes a trip as follows: farm, local warehouse, regional distribution center, refrigerated truck, regional distribution center at destination, another truck, local supermarket, backroom stocking area, floor, and, finally, shelf. All of this can take a week to ten days. Even if the broccoli is kept cold throughout this odyssey (something hardly likely with all of those transfers in and out of trucks and warehouses), it isn’t going to be fresh and full of nutrition by the time we purchase it, and even less fresh by the time it is eaten.
Maintaining the cold chain is not the only factor that effects the quality of fruits and vegetables. Even “fresh” produce is often subjected to processing before it reaches the supermarket shelf. To allow them to endure transportation, bananas and tomatoes are picked while still green, then chilled, warmed, and then treated with chemical gases to force them to ripen. Bagged vegetables and salads have been washed and cut, subject to “modified atmosphere packaging” (which changes the proportion of oxygen and carbon dioxide to delay spoilage), and often produce is treated with preservatives to lengthen its shelf life and to maintain its color.
So what is the definition of fresh? In supermarket terms, “fresh” refers to produce and foods that spoil faster than others. It does not mean that produce was picked early that day or even that week, or that the produce is nutritious. Where was the broccoli grown? Salinas, CA, and it endured about 3,000 miles getting from California to Florence.
In 2002, Congress passed a law requiring country of origin labeling, the apt acronym is COOL, that was to take effect in 2004. Later, under pressure from the food industries, Congress postponed the deadline until 2005 for fish, but until 2006 and, later 2008 for other foods. We should know where our food comes from. Knowing this lets us know about freshness, taste, and nutritional value.
In America, food industry opposition to COOL is just about universal. Industry officials complain that tracking the origin of foods is difficult, but also would prefer that you not know how far food has traveled before it gets to you. Its lobbyists argued that COOL would be “extraordinarily costly with no discernible benefit,” but their real objection was that meat and produce producers would have to track where animals and produce products come from – another sensible idea that they have long resisted.
You might think that COOL would benefit American meat, fruit and vegetable growers (“Buy American!”), but that was not the case. Producers objected and argued that COOL was too costly, too complicated, and too revealing. Food producers, grocers, the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association and the Produce Marketing Association lobbied Congress to introduce legislation, the Food Promotion Act of 2004, which would make COOL entirely voluntary. This too had an apt acronym: VCOOL. Although this legislation did not pass, Congress delayed COOL implementation until October 2006 and then again until October 2008. It is still difficult for us to know where our food comes from.
Whole Foods (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/) has voluntarily labeled the origins of fruits and vegetables for years. What could possibly be wrong with letting customers know where food comes from? Food suppliers must think that COOL will hurt their profits by forcing them to track the source of their foods, keep foods from different locations separated, and label the foods accordingly. Food suppliers do not want you to know how commonly food from different places is commingled. The foods in the bin might come from anywhere. So the industry wants COOL to be voluntary – so they can voluntarily decline to put COOL labels on their products.
Why is it important to know where our food comes from?
Well, number 1, food safety. Sometimes bananas from Ecuador, spinach from the US, grapes from Chili, green peppers and string beans from Zimbabwe, apples from South Africa, and onions from New Zealand might not be fresh, nutritious, and might not be safe. A nonprofit research organization called the Environmental Working Group (http://www.ewg.org/) reports periodically on health risks from pesticides in produce. The group says we can cut our exposure to chemicals and pesticides by 50 percent simply by reducing our consumption of the “dirty dozen” – the twelve fruits and vegetables they have found to be the most contaminated at the current time. At this writing, those twelve are peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, grapes (imported), pears, spinach, and potatoes.
Number 2, nutritional value, when we eat produce that is not fresh we do not get the nutrients and fiber that we should. Therefore, it is not as nutritious for us, does not provide maximum energy, and we will be hungry sooner and perhaps malnourished. Thus, we still get the same number of calories from the produce that is not fresh but not a lot of nutrition, it is more empty calories, and we will be hungry sooner, so we may end up getting too many calories, not enough nutrition, be hungry and over eat. Not good for our health nor the rates of obesity.
What can we do? Ask your grocer where the food you would like to buy comes from. I went into a supermarket a few years ago when I moved to Florence. I complimented the produce manager on an island display of mangoes, melons, pears, apples, bananas, peppers, onions, and tomatoes. The display was beautiful and looked very appetizing. I asked the produce manager where each item came from and he could not tell me the origin of a single piece of produce in that display. He pointed me to an organic area along the wall and he told me where all of the organic produce came from.
Moral of the story, buy locally for your health. Locally grown foods are more fresh, they taste better, they will also have more nutrients, will provide us with more energy and fiber, and we will be supporting local growers.
Where does the produce you buy come from and is it nutritious and fresh? What do you think about the freshness and nutrient content of the food that you eat?
Think about it, food for thought.
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Most produce I eat comes from fast food industries. I usually have a very high protein diet. I rarely eat fruits and vegatables. Because going out to eat or grabbing something from a fast fod industry is very convienent, I usually never eat fruits or vegatables from the market. I never go grocery shopping. I only eat fruits and vegatables from the places that I eat. Because I was formerly employed at a fast food resturant, I know that the fruits and vegatables that are there are not very fresh. For instance, we had boxed tomatoes that were packaged and ordered from IFH distribution center. These tomatoes had a month expiration date on them AFTER we received them, so there is no telling how long these products sat at the distribution center before they were shipped to our store. We also had lemon and limes that were ordered from the same company. The lemons and limes only had a storage life of three weeks, but again, there was no telling how long these items had been sitting on the shelf at the food distribution center. I ocasionally buy apples from McDonalds, which are packaged for months before customers ever but them. When I go visit my mother and father, I do get a more varied diet. My uncle has a huge garden, so my mom will pick peas, peaches, collards, grapes, and just about any other fruit or veggie you can imagine. When I go home to eat, I find that I eat fresher, healthier foods. I know these vegatables are fresh because I usually go help pick them, and it is rare my mother will buy any produce from the store because she can get fresh produce for free.
ReplyDeleteOther than the times I am at my mom’s and dad’s, I do not think that the foods I eat contain many nutrients at all. Because the nutrients in food deterorate, by the time I comsume the vegatables from the places I eat, the nutrient content is probably little to none. I wouldn’t imagine that these foods that I eat “on the run” would have much nutrients. Even though I think that I do not have a nutrient rich diet, I know that in order for the bosy to function properly, you need nutrients, so I must be getting some nutrients from some source. The only fruits I buy are apples. I buy fresh apples every other day because they are my favorite snack to eat. I usually buy from produce stands and my local produce seller claimed his fruits were never more than a week old. I do not know how many nutrients my apples lose by the time I purchase them in a weeks time, but it can’t be more than the fruits and vegatables I buy from fast food and dinning establishments. I guess this is where I get most of my nutrients from. Other than apples, I usually only eat chicken. I eat chicken everyday and I do not think this can be very healthy, but I like to think that it is healthier than eating red meats and pork.
The food I eat may not be very nutrient rich, but I am healthy now. After watching the video in class I was worried and may try to change because the man that they interviewed had healthy colesterol levels and blood sugar levels, but had damage to his arteries from his Westernized diet. I know I need to change my diet to be healthier, but it is difficult because of the taste I have developed for salty foods. I couldn’t even eat organic pasta my mom bought because it just tasted so bland. If there were tastier, healthier foods to eat I think more people would be healthier and tend to eat healthier. If anyone has any suggestions on tasty, healthy foods feel free to inform me. =)
First off, I found this and the movie "Forks over Knives" to be very beneficial. I am one of many who can say I don't know where my produce comes from, but I can say it is not very nutritious or fresh. I do, however, occasionally get produce from Bi-lo. I know their produce is fresh and locally grown. Reading their website about their organic food and produce is inspiring and makes sense. Eating healthy doesn't mean the food won't taste good. The nutrient content of the food I eat is low and I am seriously considering the whole foods, plant-based diet to see if it helps my health. I think this is one of the most important things I will carry on with me outside this class and try to tell others about, as well.
ReplyDeleteI buy most of my produce from the supermarket, although I buy some from local vegetable stands when they have locally grown produce in stock. I also choose locally grown produce in the supermarket when it is designated as such. I am not always completely satisfied with the freshness of the produce available; if it is obviously on the decline, I usually pass it up. I would rather eat frozen vegetables than “fresh” vegetables that are starting to wilt or have bad spots. I think in such cases that the nutrients may be more intact in the frozen version, although some vitamins may be lost in the blanching process. In truth, I think more about not wasting my money on something that won’t look or taste very good or will spoil before I get a chance to eat it than the nutrient content. I suspect that more nutrients are lost in cooking than in transport of produce, especially of water-soluble vitamins. I take a multi-vitamin as insurance against vitamins being missing from my food, even though I try to eat a healthy diet.
ReplyDeleteI would have to see scientific evidence to be convinced that the fiber content of produce degrades during shipping and storage. Since fiber is defined as indigestible (able to withstand stand stomach acid and bile and digestive enzymes without being broken down enough to be absorbed), I have a hard time believing that any significant portion of fiber in produce is lost before the produce actually starts to rot. Calories are a measure of the energy in food, so any micronutrient degradation that may occur in shipping doesn’t reduce the energy we get from the food. We may feel less energetic if we have a vitamin deficiency. I would have to see scientific evidence to convince me that the loss of vitamins during the shipping and storage of produce is of such a high percentage that the produce would qualify as “empty calories.” The minerals are still present in any case, and if we fill up on lots of fruits and vegetables, we might consume less of the sugary, salty, fatty, processed foods that are often referred to in this manner.
I buy local produce when I can to reduce the amount of energy used in shipping and to support local agriculture. It is often fresher, but not always. If it is harvested and stored for even a few days without refrigeration in the South Carolina heat, it can lose some or all of its freshness advantage. Being from a local grower doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not grown with the same chemical fertilizers and pesticides as supermarket versions. Being sold in a local produce stand or farmer’s market doesn’t necessarily mean the produce is locally grown, either. I can’t justify driving farther and paying more for food just because it’s locally grown if the quality advantage isn’t there.
I would like to have more information about where all my food comes from, including domestic produce. I would have a preference for local produce first, domestic second, and foreign last. I support COOL because there are countries like China that I wouldn’t like to buy food from because of lax or absent regulation of pesticide use and unscrupulous business practices, not to mention political issues like human rights policies.
I have been buying organic celery and carrots for the past few years, and some other organic produce occasionally, but it’s harder to find and sometimes the price differential is hard to swallow (pardon the lousy pun). Sometimes the lower supply and demand for organic produce means that it’s not any fresher than standard fare (in the supermarket, at least), though it still has the advantage of not being full of pesticide residues. I also attempt to grow some fresh vegetables and blueberries without pesticides, but gardening in this climate is tough. When I lived in the more hospitable climate of central Pennsylvania and had a garden with deep limestone soil, I used to grow enough vegetables for fresh use during the growing season and have a lot to can and freeze, too. It’s nice to know the food you eat is fresh and free of harmful chemicals. Home-grown tastes better, too.
Before the class began the unit on nutrition, I can honestly say that I had never considered some of the food issues we talk about. I think deep down I knew that where food was sold and where it comes from does play a major role in its nutrition. However, I can honestly say that when I’m at the store buying my food I’m in such a hurry to get in and out that where things come from isn’t even on my mind.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I go shopping for food, I usually end up at BI-LO or Wal-Mart. I know that I should probably try to go to more organic health stores or even a farmer’s market; however, I live in a small town and when it’s time to go grocery shopping I just don’t have the time to go out of town and find a health food store. BI-LO and Wal-Mart are the closest stores to where I live. So I often settle for food from those stores.
After reading the chapter in our book, watching the Forks Over Knives video, and reading the introduction to the blog I realize that just because something says healthy or fresh doesn’t mean it really is. I have never seen anything on any of the food I buy that tells where it comes from or even how long it’s been since it was picked. So, the food I eat probably does not have much nutrition to it and really isn’t that fresh.
Considering all this actually upsets me. I don’t want to be buying “healthy” foods when really I’m not getting any nutritional value from it at all. After learning all of this and realizing the error in my thinking, I now realize that going out of town to purchase my foods really would be worth it. If I want to eat healthy, nutritious food I need to go to places besides big, chain stores that don’t care about my health.
I buy my produce from a local grocery store and the majority of the time it's hard to pick out fresh fruits and vegetables. Some of the produce have dark spots or typically the fruits are out of season.I usually buy strawberries all year round, which goes to show that the strawberries are not fresh and have been preserved. It would benefit me if i could find a place that had fresh fruits and vegetables because i am not educated on growing my own fruits and vegetables and i don't currently own my home to have a area for planting. Overall, the food that i eat is not "fresh" because most of it is processed. I eat meat from the local grocery store and eat things that come out of bags and boxes. I would like to change my diet and eat "fresh" foods and a plant based diet. I want to gradually change my diet because i am learning how i am harming my body with the foods that i am consuming. :(
ReplyDeleteI shop at a local family owned grocery store in my neighborhood. I heard through my mother and other shoppers that their produce comes mostly from local farmers in our area, but we all know that not every single fruit or vegetable always comes locally. Here in the south we can often have harsh winters and summers which in turn have departmental effect on our produce. So that means our stores have to find other ways of finding the produce needed to be sold. This means that produce that we are used to being extra fresh, will now be called fresh according to the distributors.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the freshness and the nutrition of those products I know that at times the quality is very minimal. There have been times, when my mother and I have been in to shop and the look of the vegetables were so horrible we left and went to another store, to see if we could find a little better quality of food. So if we would have brought those items can you image the nutrient value of it and what it probably would have done to our stomachs? Those types of revelations are scary and shocking to even imagine.
The overall outlook of the whole grocery store produce is sad. In my family we try to use as minimal use of grocery store produce as possible. My uncle and front door neighbor have three gardens of different types of produce we can go and choose from. In the winter months they have things like collard greens, cabbage, and etc. During the summer months they may grow anything from watermelons, turnips, honey dew, potatoes, and etc. So our trips to the market are minimal when it comes to buying produce.
1. Where does your food come from and how does it get to the food market?
ReplyDeleteFor the food I purchase at the supermarket to get to the actual supermarket it goes through the following process: farm, local warehouse, regional distribution center, refrigerated truck, regional distribution center at destination, another truck, local supermarket, backroom stocking area, floor, and, finally, shelf. All of these steps can take a week to ten days.
2. Why is it important to know where our food comes from?
It is important to know where your food comes for mainly because of safety. There are many different diseases that are grown and brought from other countries and even different states. If the food I am eating is grown in one of those locations it may be harmful to my health. It is also important to know where my food comes from because of its nutritious value. Through all the traveling that food has to go through just to get the supermarket, it loses a lot of its nutritious value.
3. Where does the produce you buy come from and is it nutritious and fresh? What do you think about the freshness and nutrient content of the food that you eat?
I am not completely sure where the produce that I buy comes from. From the document that we just read I know that the process of getting produce from the farms to the shelf of a supermarket is very long. Then time that it is taken from the ground and then place in the store may take up to 10 days! During that amount of time it has already lost a lot if not all of its nutrients. After reading this I have realized that if I want health, fresh, and nutritious food, I will have to find where I can find food that is freshly picked and grown.
The produce we buy comes from factories. It is not fresh. It is picked when it is not yet ripe and processed in factories. The factories inject chemicals in them to help them finish riping. They also inject chemimals in they that help them look fresh and colorful on the shelves of our supermarkets. In the U.S. it is estimated that produce travels an average of 15oo miles from farms to our homes. They are highly over processed. It is also said that the more pricey your food is the better it may be for your health. I have also heard that the higher the quality of your supermarket the better the food quality will be. The factories seperates the food by quality according to what stores they go to. It is very diffcult for us to know actually where our food comes from. Many grocers would rather you not know because they fear business loss. I think if people knew just how long it takes and how long our food travels before it get to us many grocers would loose lots of business. Our food gets to the supermarket in a truck. It is important for us to know where our food comes from because it is important for us to know if it is nutritious, and fresh. If not we lack nutrients and fiber in our diets. This means if we dont get enough nutrients, we lack energy. The energy need for day to day activity. Not getting to right amount of nutrients causes us to get hungry sooner as well. This to more people being over weight.
ReplyDeleteWhere does the produce you buy come from and is it nutritious and fresh?
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this blog post, I started thinking about where the food I buy comes from and to be honest I do not know. I started to think about all the food that I buy and what I thought to be “healthy” really might not be. I just thought if it said “fresh” on the label then the food was made fresh. When I go to the grocery to buy groceries, I never stopped to think about how far the food had to travel to get to the grocery store. After reading this, I realized it may have traveled for up to 10 days and has been passed around from truck to truck. Who is to say that this food was kept in a cooler every second that it was passed around? When the food is passed around from truck to truck, there may be delays; and the food may sit outside the cooler for an hour or more. This blog topic makes me want to be very picky when I grocery shop and ask the store associate where did my food travel from.
What do you think about the freshness and nutrient content of the food that your eat?
Growing up, my great grandmother had a garden in her backyard. We would always pick vegetables from the garden. She passed away many years ago, and when she did my family and I kept the garden up for a few years, but then we stopped. I never thought about the garden food being more nutritious than the vegetables I bought in the store, until now. When I buy lettuce, the label always says “fresh”, but it’s really not. I never realized that the lettuce may have been picked over 24 hours away, and then traveled for days before getting to the grocery store. I also never stopped to think that once something is picked from its roots it automatically loses nutrients if you don’t eat it right away. With that being said, most of the food that I buy in the grocery store is not nutrient dense because it had to travel days before it even gets to the store. After reading this blog post, I think that I will start buying groceries that are made locally because they don’t have to travel a distance before it reaches the nearby grocery store. Also, I never realized that once a food is packaged in a bag, can, box, etc. that there are chemicals added in there to help the food from spoilage and from turning colors. I think that is not healthy at all. What I thought to be fresh clean food might actually be contaminated with chemicals used to help the food stay fresher longer. It made me stop and ask myself, how safe is the food that I’m buying? I think I will start shopping for oraganic foods because after reading this it makes me realize that I really don't have a clue to what it is that I am buying off the grocery store shelf.
One of the scariest things about health is evaluating your nutrition. You soon realize the dangers of foods containing a lot of growth hormones, preservatives and other chemicals. As you try to change your eating habits to include more fresh foods, you realize that “fresh” is not what it appears to be due to what is now considered routine methods of growing, harvesting, and selling. Unfortunately that results in poor health for the consumers of the “mystery” produce.
ReplyDeleteWhile organic produce gives consumers a better chance at avoiding such harmful additives, families and people who are poor cannot avoid the harm when they purchase cheaper foods. I’ve grown up in a household with little education on nutrition (with some people I know even practicing the Atkins diet in which you mainly eat animal sources of protein- Yikes!) and a small grocery budget. So, I grew up eating a lot of processed food such as canned goods, pasta kits in a box, etc. My mom also cooked a lot of southern meals such as rice, vegetables, and meat for just about every supper. So, I always assumed that I ate healthy because I ate a variety of foods. However, once you consider the fact that just about all of the ingredients for the healthy, well-balanced suppers that I consumed were non-organic, processed foods, then that supper does not look so nutritionally.
Availability is a big problem for people looking for healthy options. Just this weekend I tried going to my local grocery store a buying more fresh and whole foods. I soon realized that there were not a lot of options, especially if you restrict yourself to organic produce. So, my question is: Why do consumers allow this epidemic of unsafe and unhealthy foods to remain commonplace in the super markets?
I think that lack of information is another big issue. Most people will eat whatever the FDA deems acceptable. And if they only look at the short term effects of consuming these foods in moderation, then their information is definitely flawed. Also, people’s perception of “healthy” is sometimes flawed. For instance, potatoes are viewed as one of nature’s perfect foods in my house in spite of its lack of nutritional value.
Also, people enjoy being able to microwave a frozen pre-prepared dinner or mix together mac-n-cheese out of a box. They eat these types of “edible food-like substances”, and wonder why they are hungry again soon after. They don’t understand the need for eating nutrition-dense foods because in their mind they have eaten a lot!
Many times when my family buys produce, it is from a regular grocery store, such as Harris Teeter or Food Lion. The items that we buy the most are our meats such as steaks, chicken, and pork, and we get our vegetables from the garden. I believe that the meats we purchase from our local grocery store are the least nutritious and are not fresh all the time. After working a grocery store I found many workers follow a rule called F.I.L.O (first in, last out). This means that the any products that are fresh and have are not to be served first, but instead stay at the back of the shelf, until the products closer to their expiration date are sold first. This not only unhealthy, but many times I have discovered that some products were already spoiled and were not taken off the shelf completely. As far as vegetables, since my grandmother has a garden, the vegetables are fresher than the meats we buy. Mainly because they are organic, there is more control over how the vegetables are grown and what is done to them in the process. I definitely feel that our eating habits concerning meat should change. I do not know what is done in the process to the animals, so as a result I really do not know what I am eating. Ultimately avoiding animal based foods is my goal, but I know it is going to take some hard work and discipline. Giving up meat cold turkey is not going to happen, but what I can do to reduce my meat intake, is to eat smaller portions. I like eating vegetables, but it sounds like if I eat more, I can begin to feel more energetic. As long as my grandmother keeps growing her organic vegetables, than I can handle the rest of my diet.
ReplyDeleteI have never thought about my food from this perspective. I never really asked where my food was grown because I did not know it made a difference. My groceries come from regular grocery stores. None of witch advertise where the food is from. And after reading this I really think it is important for them to provide that information to the customers. What the customers do with this information is left up to them. But people don’t think about what they don’t know. Like I never knew the distance something traveled affected its nutritional value. Therefore I never thought about where it came from. There are so many people out there that don’t know information like this for their health.
ReplyDeleteConsidering I by my food at places such as Wal-Mart and Bi-Lo I am guessing my food does not have the most freshness and nutrient value. I know I eat an unhealthy amount of process foods like most Americans. However after taking this class I’m considering working on improving that. I know my produce is not bought from a place that sells local grown fruits and vegetables. The food I by come to the sore in one of those big refrigerated trucks. You see these trucks for Wal-Mart going down the road all the time. Yet I never thought where is that truck coming from. After reading this I think I need to rethink where I buy my produce. I could start going to Macbee to McLeod farms for some of my produce this would be a lot more nutritional. Another alternative I could take would be to have my own garden witch I have had a few years. That food is as fresh as it comes it is straight from the garden to the dinner plate. That is when the food is the healthiest to eat.
My food comes from the local grocery store, either Food Lion or BI-LO. Aside from that, I don’t know where my food comes from. For instance, I don’t know how it gets to the market. I’ve never even inquired… how sad. I take for granted it is there and conveniently available.
ReplyDeleteThe produce I buy is no different. I don’t visit the local farmer(s) market because I honestly don’t think I can afford it. My assumptions (yuck) are that local grown produce is far more expensive. Again, I’ve never looked into comparing the prices. I’ve allowed my assumptions to make my choices for me… I really don’t like this blog right now.
Based on all the things I’ve read about and learned this semester I would have to say that the food I purchase is not nutritious or fresh. This makes me sad. I have prided myself on providing “well balanced meals” for my family of six. “We don’t buy junk!” has been my motto, but how ignorant I have been. I mean, I always provide a vegetable, grain, protein, etc. with each meal—based on the pyramid—but majority of that comes from a package. What an injustice I have done to my poor children.
This is exactly why it is important for us to know where our food comes from. Even though I thought I was doing something good, something great with my babies: not buying candies or chips or soda, the “good, nutritious” food I thought I was buying: the pink yogurt and canned mandarin and boxed juices, in fact was not. Those strawberries in February or tomatoes in December weren’t so fresh and definitely not so nutritious. Those green beans in the can don’t amount to a hill of beans compared to the nutrition and freshness of the flash-frozen ones I can buy for a buck more in the freezer section. And even those won’t compare to the ones my Meme grows in her garden (that I can pick for free) and know exactly where they are coming from.
Lucy, we’ve got some changin’ to do!
P.S. I’ve never seen a COOL or VCOOL label. Then again, I never thought to look for one…
301 blog 7 Page, Giles
ReplyDeleteI will have to admit that I don’t go to a grocery store and buy organic produce all the time but I do buy some organic produce. I do grow some of my own food. Mainly because I grew up on a farm and my family always had always had a big garden. My mother would can and freeze vegetables that came out of our garden. When I moved away from home nothing tasted anything like it did growing up. I do have a cousin who runs a produce farm and I go to see him to get produce from time to time, but it is not organic. I know he sells at the farmers market in Lumberton and I think he sells in Florence some too.
I grow stuff like tomatoes, eggplant, and squash. I grow some vegetable in the shrubbery around my house. I also grow some in containers. I have a compost pile that I put leaves and vegetable scraps in to compost. I have found that if I have carrots and apples that I don’t eat all, I might as well just give them to my dogs. Who knew dogs would fight over carrots like they do. I also have been growing gourds to hang to attack purple martin to eat insets. I went to see Scott Ainslie, at the PAC Black Box in February. He played a gourd banjo. I have been trying to locate some gourd seed that would work for that so I could try to make a gourd banjo, in my spare time.
I am talking to the city of Marion about getting them to dump leaves on my farm so I can compost them and start doing some organic gardening. First I plan on doing mainly for me, but if possible it would be nice to make money off of it to help pay the taxes on the land. I think having a community garden would be a good thing, for the area. I feel that some type of food co-op would be good. That way if someone didn’t have the money they could work some for the food they were getting out of the garden.
I have a friend that I grew up with that lives “off the grid” up in Kentucky. She does organic gardening. I know she sells organic vegetables in the area and she is a midwife for an Amish community she lives near. She has been doing organic gardening since she got out of nursing school and got married.
Until I read this blog, I was completely oblivious to this problem.
ReplyDeleteLearning that the “healthy” salad I ate with cucumbers from Canada,
tomatoes from Mexico, and lettuce from California was likely
contaminated and not only traveled thousands of miles to get to my
plate but was probably pumped full of chemicals in order to ripen on
the shelf, was like learning that there is not a Santa Clause! I love
vegetables and always make an effort to eat at least three servings of
them a day but I had no idea what transporting them entailed and was
even more oblivious to the fact that some are pumped full of chemicals
in order to appear ripe when I buy them. The “dirty dozen” is pretty
much a list of my favorite fruits and vegetables!
The produce I buy comes from mostly Food Lion and Wal-Mart. I feel
very disturbed at the prospect that my fruits and vegetables that my
healthy choice to eat vegetables may actually be a choice to consume
empty calories that could be contaminated. I do not know where exactly
to buy local vegetables and it is somewhat difficult to cook and eat
foods that are in season. If the foods I contain do lack nutrients and
are empty calories, this will be extremely disappointing. If even the
fresh choices are not the right ones, what am I supposed to eat?
301 Hudson
ReplyDeleteWhenever I go grocery shopping, I purchase majority of my produce from either Wal-Mart or BI-LO. While BI-LO does not provide any information on where there produces comes from, Wal-Mart provides several different sources of information on their produce. After considering the question asked, I decided to do some research on where exactly does the produce I purchase come from. I read one article that mentioned several times how, “Wal-Mart is committed to purchasing food from local growers for distribution to stores in their areas.” While I want to believe that this true, I find it hard to believe because Wal-Mart is the largest grocery retailer that provides not only produce but also the everyday essential needs as well. Making it easier and faster for shopping to get everything they need at all one time instead having to go to different stores. I think that with Florence being a small area, I don’t believe that the local growers can provide all of the high demanded produce. So with that being said, there is no other way than having the food that has been shipped from miles away. Causing it to not be as nutritious or fresh as it would be if we were to shop at local supermarkets like recommended in the article. Before reading the article I believe that the fruit and vegetables that I brought from these two stores were 100% because of the look, but I had no idea that it was only because of chemicals. I absolutely love fruits and vegetables and try to eat them every day; I like to believe that the intake of vegetables and fruits that I do eat are fresh and that healthy part of my diet that I need. I will never give up fruits and vegetables, but from now on I will try to support the local supermarkets more often rather than going to well known distribution stores.
I shop at Food Lion and their fresh produce come from the farmers market. The produce is than delivere by a truck and some produce are frozen the whole way to the store.
ReplyDeleteThis blog has opened my eyes even more about how un healthy some of the food that i eat really is. Most of the food that i eat is imported from all over the country. Some of them were imported from as far as California. There is no way that these foods are fresh and nutritious because they have been picked for over a week by the time that i eat them. From the time they are picked they become less and less nutritious. They lose more and more vitamins, minerals, and fiber. I have been taking in way more empty calories that i though. It also gross to think about the fact that my food has been sitting around for over a week, before i even get a chance to eat it.
ReplyDeleteI think i seriously should reconsider what types of fruits and vegetables I am eating. I may be making more trips to the farmers market, and less trips to the produce aisle of the grocery store. Locally grown food will be a better choice because there will probably be a lower amount of pesticides, the food will be fresher, and the food will contain more vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Therefore, i will be eating less empty calories, and gain more health benefits from the food that I am eating.
My diet seriously is about 60% vegetable with occasional fruit thrown in there as well. All of this information was really horrible for me to take in as I absolutely love vegetables. Most of the vegetables I buy are not organic and are from the grocery store. The fruit when I buy it on occasion I purchase it from our local farmers market. So, at least as far as the fruit is concerned I can rest easy knowing that it is grown locally, however; I don’t know if they are treated with pesticides or how long they have been sitting in the bin after they were picked. This unfortunately means that I cannot really rest any easier as far as fruits are concerned.
ReplyDeleteMost of vegetables are purchased from Food Lion right down the road as I have easier access to it while going to school. I used to work there so I know that even if the produce has been sitting on a truck for days that once it hits the store it is taken off and refrigerated immediately. That was one good thing about the employees at Food Lion, they made sure that all of the produce and meats, essentially anything that needed to be refrigerated, was taken off and done so as soon as possible. Extra help was even scheduled to make this go by faster. I know that refrigerating it once it hits the store doesn’t reverse any damage that was done before it got there, but just knowing that a least some measures were taken to keep it fresh helps me feel a little bit better.
The vegetables that I most often consume are: bell peppers, potatoes, lettuce, and spinach. Unfortunately for me they happen to be in the “dirty dozen”. This leads me to believe that instead of consuming a lot of protein by eating vegetables since I don’t really like meat all that much I’m really just getting pesticides and other chemicals. This would probably explain why I frequently get sick. The irony is that whenever I go to the doctor and tell him that I’m lethargic and tired all the time his first question is “what are you eating?” I always reply back with “mostly vegetables, some grains, and few meats.” Never has it been mentioned by my doctor that maybe I should try to get more locally grown foods or organic foods. I feel as if a doctor should have to suggest those ideas to you, because; isn’t it there job as our health care providers to make us aware of what we are doing to potentially hurt ourselves?
All of this information is just…enlightening and disheartening. Now I know that even though I try to make sure all of the vegetables I get are from the USA and “fresh”, or at least what I at the time considered fresh, they really aren’t and I should just switch to organic or buy everything from the farmers market. Even though the food is “a product of the USA” I don’t really know how long it took for it to get to me, if it was properly refrigerated on its journey here, or if it was treated with chemicals that could potentially harm me. So, my best bet after this is like I said to just buy organic or locally grown produce, even if it may be a little more expensive. After all, at the end of the day what’s more important to me, my money or my health? That’s an easy one.
If my time spent in your health class has shown me anything, Dr. McWayne, it is that I have not been eating healthily. I’ve begun to pay attention to just how much I eat from frozen boxes filled with processed junk that are “convenient” and microwaved, but not nutrient rich in the least. I’ve been fooling myself into believing that, just because I don’t eat meat, I’m eating the healthy foods that my body needs. But when the majority of your diet comes from packages or cans, it becomes safe to say that you aren’t eating fresh food that is nutrient rich. The vegetables located in my family’s fridge that are in their “natural” state are often claimed from the food racks of Bi-Lo or Wal-Mart and, if asked, employees of either location would more than likely be hard-pressed to give me a point of origin, or even a description of out fresh and nutrient rich the vegetables may be. My deepest desire is now to be able to eat a diet I can proudly say is AT LEAST 98% all natural and filled with the wondrous nutrients nature provides for us. I truly wish we could live in a world where, upon our request, a clerk within the foods section of stores could rapidly enlighten us about our vegetables journey from the field to our eager stomachs.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone
ReplyDeleteI don't consume very much produce on a regular, but I am almost positive that the majority of the produce that I eat, is processed and not very nutritious. When I shop for produce myself, I normally go to a Bi-Lo supermarket. I don't shop here for nutritional purposes, but simply because the taste is better. I am a sales associate at Wal-Mart so I eat a lot of different things from there. I have eaten lots of produce from Wal-mart when working and due to the fact that my mother grocery shops there. I've noticed that she has to pick through items to get to a fresh bundle of something or fresh item. A year ago I was introduced to some fruit that came from a Bi-Lo supermarket and fell in love!!!! The fruits were extremely fresh and of course nutritious. From that day on, when I shopped for fruit I only went there. So later on down the line I said I was going to try some of there other produce to see if it's just the fruit or if they just have overall, fresh produce. I'm a huge lover of cucumber on a salad as well as tomatoes. Low and behold, the cucumbers were refreshing and crisp. I, of course, sprinkled salt over the slices, but I believe that doesn't take away from the nutrition cucumbers carry. The tomatoes were also to die for! So one day I told my friend, whom introduced me to Bi-Lo, that there produce line was awesome, from what I've tasted. My friend then filled me in and said there produce actually comes from a farm. I haven't done any research on it, but from the taste, that's not hard to believe.
As far as the overall freshness and nutrients content of the food I eat, I would say the majority is not fresh food due to processing with things such as chemicals to alter the taste or chemicals to change the color. This also gives precedence to the food not being nutritious. The more processing done to food, the more nutrients being taken from the food. On average about 85% of what I eat is processed which is very bad! I now am inspired to eat healthier, especially after the "Forks Over Knives" film. Nutrients are key essentials in being healthy. I know that fresh organic foods are the best and will now try to find and purchase more of it to promote a healthier me!
I buy almost all my food from Wal-Mart. After looking up a few things I found that a lot of the food comes from China and not from Canada and I found that China packages processed food and the rules that they follow when packaging food is, anything goes. Unlike the U.S. and Canada, China does not have laws regulating food processing. Since the food is being brought from so far away I don’t think that it is as fresh as I once thought.
ReplyDeleteIf customers knew where their food came from then they may begin to ask other questions such as how their food is being made. Once they see how it is made I feel that many may not what to consume what they once thought tasted good and was good for them.
It is important to know where our food comes from because you should know exactly what it is that you are putting into your body. I don’t think people would intentionally put something in their bodies if they didn’t think it was healthy.
Since the produce I buy comes from Wal-Mart I don’t think and is it as nutritious and fresh because most of it is either processed or preserved.
After seeing where a majority of my food comes from and how it is made, it really is an eye-opener. Although I know what is healthy I now see that where I shop for my food may not be the healthiest place to shop. I now see that what I thought was fresh may not be so fresh, or as fresh as foods that were locally grown, which are fresher, taste better, and have more nutrients food; which would provide me with more energy and fiber, and will allow me to be supportive of local growers.
Even though the label says fresh, how fresh can these oranges from Florida be when I live in South Carolina? That is a question I have been asking myself since I began to take this class. This orange was not frozen as soon as it was picked. It has lost a significant amount of nutrients each day after it was picked. I would not consider this a fresh orange. It would be better for me to get the orange that was frozen as soon as it was picked. That would at least make them as fresh as they were the day they were frozen. Knowing this encourages me to get my produce from local farms. That way the trip it takes to get from tree to store is not nearly as long. It would be healthier, and more convenient to eat local grown food. I don’t think fruit that is truly not fresh should get the approval or be considered fresh. That produce is not nearly as nutritional as if I had just picked it off the tree rinsed it off and bite into it.
ReplyDeleteThe produce that I buy comes from the produce isle in the store where my husband works. The fresh fruit and vegetables that are grown locally and that are in season come from local farmers and anything else comes from the Piggly Wiggly warehouse in Charleston. They get their produce from places all over they country, all except the bananas because of the climate it takes for them grow. I usually only buy the produce that is local and in season and I wash them really well just in case they may have used pesticides. The rest I try and get flash frozen to ensure that fruit and vegetables that are even out of season are still fresh when cooked, on the stove of course. Soon though I would like to start my own garden and grow fruits and vegetables so that I can make sure that they are grown with no pesticides and completely natural.
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