Better for You
Fresher/Tastier
Most produce in the US is picked 4 to 7 days before it arrives on the shelf in your supermarket. It’s picked that early so it can travel without getting bruised and arrive looking beautiful. But early picking also means it’s taken from the tree or ground before the flavors are fully developed. Local food has a much greater chance of being picked at the peak of maturity (tastier) and getting to your table faster (fresher).
Michael Pollan: Why Eat Local? (Video: 2 mins)
Greater Variety
In 1866, 1,186 varieties of fruits and vegetables were produced in California. Today, there are only 350 commercial crops.source And just a century ago, there were over 15,000 distinct apple varieties grown on U.S. soil, while today, only 11 varieties regularly appear on supermarket shelves. Red Delicious alone accounts for 41% of all apples grown and eaten in the U.S. source
With the larger farms, it simply doesn’t make economic sense to diversify or experiment with different varieties. Crops are chosen for their popularity but also for how easy they are to harvest, how well they hold up in travel, and how prolific they are per acre.
But heirloom fruits and vegetables are living links to our past, and to lose them would be to lose a part of our history.
And variety is especially important because shallow gene pools have a hard time defending themselves against outbreaks of pests or diseases. Many experts believe, for example, that the Irish potato famine could have been avoided if farmers were growing a wider variety of potatoes.
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Save Seeds, Save Ourselves by Maya Trook (Video: 3 mins)
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One seed at a time, protecting the future of food (Video: 18 mins)
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Epitaph for a Peach by David Mas Maumoto (Book) Epitaph for a Peach tells the passionate story of one farmer's attempt to rescue one of the last truly sweet and juicy fruits from becoming obsolete in a world that increasingly values commerciality over quality.
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Heirloom Vegetable Gardening by William Woys Weaver (Book) Encyclopedic guide to the history and cultivation of some of America's most treasured heirloom vegetables. Weaver shares over thirty years of original research from historical archives as well as hands-on gardening experience to help the lay-person appreciate the fascinating history of each vegetable, grow it, and incorporate it into everyday cooking.
Improved Health and Nutrition
Did you know that the older the produce, the more nutrients it loses? For instance, spinach loses 50-90% of its Vitamin C content within 24 hours after it is picked and fresh peas lose 50% of their nutrients after a week from harvest. source In fact, most vegetables and fruits lose a substantial amount of their nutritional value when they travel for days and are not consumed within a day. The closer the food, the more nutrients.
Also, since local food doesn’t travel, farmers don’t need to use chemical preservatives or irradiation to artificially extend shelf-life.
But there’s another dimension to our food & health: over the past 50 years, US Farm policy has encouraged the mass production of corn and soybeans. This has resulted in the development of new inexpensive products such as high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oils which have increased in consumption by over 1000% and 35% respectively since 1980. source As a country we now spend over half of every food dollar on ready-prepared, ready-to-eat food –most of which is high in these added fats and sugars. And on any given day, a quarter of US adults eat at a fast food restaurant. source
Meanwhile Health insurance expenditures on obesity-related diseases have increased more than 10x since 1987. And the financial costs of obesity now top $75 billion a year. For the first time in history, the current generation of American children will have a lower life expectancy than their parents. source
In the big picture, simply slowing down and cooking for yourself –using local fruits & vegetables – is a big step towards health as we’ve heard from a number of different sources lately including the first lady, Jamie Oliver, and shows like The Biggest Loser .
- Jamie Oliver’s Ted Talk ( Video: 20 mins)
- Michael Pollan: Twinkie vs Carrot (Video: 2 mins)
- Michael Pollan: No Free Lunch (Video: 2 mins)
- Looks Great, Less Filling –The changing nutrition of fruits & veggies (Article)
- Farm fresh: the health benefits of buying local produce (Article)
- Food Without Thought (Article)
- Unhappy Meal (Article)
- Super Size Me (Feature Documentary)While examining the influence of the fast food industry, Morgan Spurlock personally explores the consequences on his health of a diet of solely McDonald's food for one month.
- In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (Book) Pollan proposes a new (and very old) answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Our personal health, he argues, cannot be divorced from the health of the food chains of which we are part.
- Twinkie, Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger (Book) Like most Americans, Steve Ettlinger eats processed foods. And, like most consumers, he often reads the ingredients label—without a clue as to what most of it means. So, when his young daughter asked, “Daddy, what’s polysorbate 60?” while eating ice cream bars at the beach on a hot summer day, he was at a loss—and determined to find out.
- Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (Book) Schlosser has unearthed a trove of fascinating, unsettling truths — from the unholy alliance between fast food and Hollywood, to the source of one major chain's flavors (the New Jersey Turnpike), to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production, popular culture, and even real estate. He also uncovers fast food's enormous efforts to reel in the youngest, most susceptible consumers even while it hones its institutionalized exploitation of teenagers and minorities.
