Saturday, June 14, 2008

Organic Integrity: Quality vs. Quantity

3 days and counting.

That's 3 days until I get my first box or 'share' of organic produce from our local CSA (community supported agriculture), Maple Creek Farm. I can tell you within days of eating the fruits and vegetables that were literally picked that day, how different my body reacts. I literally feel more alive. No surprise, because the food is alive.

There's a lot in the news recently about food shortages and our food supply being taxed to the max with industrial farming of soybean, corn and other nutrient deficient crops that are robbing our soil of the biodiversity it needs to crank out real food. Technology and science is a remarkable thing, but when it come to our food, leave it alone. Food is food. End of story, no need to reivent it, no need to reduce the fat content so we consume low-fat replacements loaded with toxic chemicals. If you're not convinced, you must read Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Pollan not only addresses the epidemic of obesity and disease in the U.S. as a result of eating nutrionless food - a term he calls 'nutritional inflation', he underscores the relevance and importance of organics. I call it organic integrity. Organic food is integral to a healthy life. People ask me why organic food wasn't around 50 years ago. It was. It's called the food our mothers and grandmothers used to make - it is why there were only 2 aisles in a grocery store or local market rather than 20 in a 'superstore'. (18 of which you shouldn't walk down!)

So remember, next time you're enticed to buy that new cereral, or the low-Snackwell crackers, you're not doing your body or the future of our food supply and health any favors.

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