The Sustainable Food Market
Your food matters, it’s not a new concept to hear that you are what you eat. Have you noticed why certain foods have correlations to the exact part of the body that it is good for? For example, a sliced carrot looks like the human eye, the pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye; and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes. The beta-carotene that gives carrots their vibrant color also acts as a potent antioxidant, preventing cell damage, boosting blood flow, and fostering healthy eyesight.Another example is an avocado. It simulates the mother’s womb. Today’s research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, melts away unwanted pregnancy weight and prevents cervical cancers. Another profound correlation is it takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit.
We know fruits and vegetables are nutritious but do we actually know where our food is coming from? From the grocery store, right? But do you really know where it comes from? Where it’s grown, shipped, processed, packaged, and shipped again, before it finally hits the grocery store?
You might be surprised to learn that our food travels an extremely long way to get to our tables, whether it is a piece of fruit or a box of cookies. The average processed food travels over 1,300 miles to get to a consumer in the states! What’s worse, the average fresh produce item travels over 1,500 miles and two weeks to get to that same consumer! What really blows me away there is that for most people, their fresh fruits and veggies must travel even farther a distance to get to them than a processed, packaged goodie.
We know fruits and vegetables are nutritious but do we actually know where our food is coming from? From the grocery store, right? But do you really know where it comes from? Where it’s grown, shipped, processed, packaged, and shipped again, before it finally hits the grocery store?
You might be surprised to learn that our food travels an extremely long way to get to our tables, whether it is a piece of fruit or a box of cookies. The average processed food travels over 1,300 miles to get to a consumer in the states! What’s worse, the average fresh produce item travels over 1,500 miles and two weeks to get to that same consumer! What really blows me away there is that for most people, their fresh fruits and veggies must travel even farther a distance to get to them than a processed, packaged goodie.
Food loses 5-15% of its nutritional values just because it gets frozen to be shipped to the grocery store. Another option would be to buy from a local farmers market. There are so many benefits and reasons why you should buy at the farmers market; you would be supporting your local farmers. Buying from the local farmer not only financially benefits the farmer but the community as well. Today’s farmer receives less than 10 cents of the retail food dollar. When farmers sell directly to the consumer, the middleman is cut out thus producing a higher profit for the farmer. The farmer then circulates his profits throughout the community with local merchants creating a cycle that helps to build a strong local economy. It also ensures you are buying healthier better tasting foods that are brought to you from the farm to the table.
The bottom line is to be aware of what you are eating. Read the labels and find out where your food came from? Just because it says organic doesn’t mean it has a smaller carbon footprint by not using pesticides, for example chemical ridden strawberries from New Jersey might just be a better alternative than those USDA certified organic strawberries from California. Imagine the emissions it took to transport them? Think twice, before you buy.
From: http://GreenIdeaGirl.com
