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October 30 2007

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If You Want to Eat Healthy, This is a Better Place to Get Your Food Than Your Supermarket

Alternative food networks are drawing increasing numbers of people who are looking to connect with ethical food producers, and the result may be healthier eating for consumers, according to research by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Alternative food programs include items such as:

  • Organic vegetable boxes

  • Community gardens

  • Farm animal adoption
People who participated in alternative food networks such as these, typically:

  • Increased their consumption of fruits and vegetables

  • Improved their cooking skills

  • Improved their knowledge about food

  • Changed their behaviors in relation to other goods, such as household products and clothes
Consumers often use alternative food networks because they are concerned about the separation of food producers and consumers. Many also say they do not trust supermarkets, or they feel supermarket food is inferior.

Although many consumers use alternative food networks along with supermarkets, many said they only shopped at supermarkets “out of necessity.” Other key motivations for using alternative food networks included the desire to:

  • Reduce food miles

  • Use fair-trade goods whenever possible

  • Use products with reduced environmental impacts and high animal welfare standards
Consumers also value the sense of trust and loyalty that they can establish with a food producer. However, some alternative food producers are concerned about how to maintain this connection as growth continues.

Meanwhile, alternative food networks may be challenged by supermarkets that are attempting to establish a sense of connection with customers by providing the names of farmers on packaging. Semi-national organic box delivery programs are also rapidly expanding, which could challenge smaller, more local alternative food networks.

Sources:



Dr. Mercola''s Comments Dr. Mercola's Comments:

This is an excellent topic of research, and I urge you to share the findings of this report with all of your friends and family who probably don’t know these other important options to the supermarket.
       
Just by changing the way you buy your food, you can eat more fruits and veggies, become a better cook (which is essential for your long-term health), and learn more about your food!

The majority of people today have no idea where their food comes from, and this is because the United States as a whole has moved away from the traditional farming practices that our ancestors thrived on, and turned to mega-farming factories instead.

Today well over 50 percent of the food you eat is produced by factory-farming methods. Small, organic, local farms are quickly disappearing here in the United States.

The Problems With Modern-Day Agriculture

New York Times author Michael Pollan wrote an excellent article about Why Our Food Supply is Crumbling. I highly suggest you read it.

Folks, farming is a cyclical process that relies on the innate cycles of nature to thrive. When you attempt to industrialize this process, you end up with inferior food quality and outbreaks of disease.

For instance, animals were once fed on pasture, and their waste helped that pasture grow. Today we have animals feeding on feedlots, and there are problems with fertilizer (which are now chemicals) and what to do with all the waste.

Meanwhile, rather than returning to a more simple solution, modern-day agriculture turns to technological fixes, such as chemical fertilizers, rather than natural ones, and irradiating meat rather than cleaning up the farms. They also pump the animals full of antibiotics and hormones to keep them from becoming sick and to make them grow as fast as possible.

Disease outbreaks are also much more likely with an industrialized food system. One large factory farm may wash up to 26 million servings of salad each week. This means that a single contaminant could taint a huge portion of food, and quickly be spread across the United States.

With a decentralized, locally based food system, when things go wrong, fewer people are affected and the problem can be easily tracked to its source.

Great Alternatives to Your Supermarket

I would go so far as to say that the less you visit your local supermarket, the healthier you will tend to be. Whether you try out farmer’s markets, community-supported agriculture programs, or a box delivery system, you will not be exposed to the aisle after aisle of chemically created, brightly colored, fake foods that your supermarket readily sells.

Of course, supermarkets make the majority of their profits from processed foods, which is why they promote them on aisle end-caps and other highly visible areas in the store -- because you are 30 percent more likely to buy items that are easily seen!

My suggestion to you and your family is to peruse this list of sustainable agriculture groups around the United States.

The good news is that increasing numbers of you are getting sick and tired (literally!) of paying a high cost for substandard, cheap, factory food.

As a result, alternative food networks are popping up all over the United States, from remote, rural areas to big cities. Please investigate the resources in your area, and avoid the supermarket as much as possible.

In case you’re wondering, local food IS preferable to organic. This is because your food will be much fresher if you buy it locally, and it will reduce the strain on the environment. Also, many small farmers actually use organic farming methods, but cannot afford the costly federal certification process to become certified “organic.” You’ll need to ask your individual farmer to be sure.

If you can’t find a local food resource from the link above, you can also track down sources by:
  • Asking workers in your local health food store
  • Searching online for local farms in your area
  • Posting your request here on VitalVotes (many of our members are well-connected with local-food scenes around the world)


Related Links:

  Why Our Food Supply is Crumbling

  Is Organic Good Enough?

  Chisan-Chishou: Fresh, Local Produce the Norm in Japan




Comment on This Article
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Posted On Oct 11, 2007

Think globally, shop or grow locally.

Slow Food, It's For EVERY MEAL!

Uncle Russ


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Russ Bianchi
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KathieJamisonCote
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Posted On Oct 11, 2007
Perfectly said Uncle Russ :)

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Posted On Oct 11, 2007
Right on Russ--and think backyard.

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Posted On Oct 31, 2007

Good food should be your priority no matter what you do.

My family have benefitted so much from organically grown food.

We don't even shop at a grocery store anymore.

They have tricks they do to the food to make you think its organic, but you must prove it.

Stick with health food store they have a higher respect for healthier food and get to know them most of the food is fresher than a grocery store too.

We all need to change our lives and live like the old days before us.

Health Capsule

suneradio.com

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Posted On Oct 12, 2007
It's amazing how little I go to the grocery store now. It's taken me some time to discover the secrets in my local area both by searching the internet and word of mouth. My local health food store (a true store with fresh product and organic deli) has employees that are a wealth of information on farmers, etc. in our area since they frequent the store and hear it from other customers.

In my area we currently use the local farmers market, a CSA program for vegetables, a widowed farmer for raw goats milk and eggs, and we've recently discovered a farm where I can place an order for fruits and vegetables (in season of course), organic beef, chicken, and eggs all grown on that farm and milk shares.

One thing I did discover on a recent visit to Whole Foods in Northern Virginia is that they are marking produce as "local" but it is coming from Maryland and Pennslyvania. Go figure!

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Posted On Oct 12, 2007
Considering a lot of organic produce comes from the west coast, Mexico, and New Zealand, Pennsylvania is pretty local. I live in Maryland and I'm glad to get Pennsylvania and Virginia produce.  In fact, I get my pastured meats, eggs, and dairy from an Amish farmer in Pennsylvania...his family delivers weekly to different drop offs in the DC Metro area. 

I think it's great that a company like WF (which I know many here are not a fan of) is selling SOME local produce.

ETA: I think anything within a 150 mile radius is considered local, btw.

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Posted On Oct 12, 2007
Kar Kar. You do have a point, a state or two away is better than on the opposite coast. In my perfect little world, my idea of local would be either within my county or from adjourning counties. Why not keep the revenue local also.

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Posted On Oct 16, 2007
Vicki could you please tell me the places you get your raw milk, eggs etc from. I also live in northern VA but haven't found any good local farmers yet. Thanks!

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Posted On Oct 29, 2007

I live in Vienna, Virginia 22182 and I am

interested in where your treasure trove of

of good food is coming from too !!!

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Posted On Oct 30, 2007

Dear Kar_Kar,   I think you should beware of buying produce from Amish farms if they come from Lancaster County,Pennsylvannia. An art exhibit, "Puppies are Biodegradable" shown last July at Philadelphia's F.U.E.L. gallery did an expose'of the Lancaster Co. puppy mills' abuse of dogs and how they dispose of the carcasses as fertilizer in the Amish farms' vegetable crop fields! They said dog *** were also used as fertilizer. Their website had horrific pictures of rotting dogs in the vegetable fields. Go to www.puppiesarebiodegradable.com             Vigorosa


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Posted On Oct 30, 2007

Vigorosa - WOW.........thanks for that info on Lancaster Country PuppyMills - HOW CAN PEOPLE BE SO BLANTANTLY UNKIND, STUPID AND IGNORANT?  I just don't get it!  No more Pennsylvania produce for this family!

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Posted On Oct 30, 2007

I live in Warrenton which is about 20 minutes from Manassas. There is a farm in Marshall I visit, a local natural marketplace, and a lady in Catlett where I get milk & eggs. Email me at VickiM66@aol.com and I will give you their information. I don't benefit from any sales, just willing to help someone like I've been helped by others.

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Posted On Oct 30, 2007

Dear KathieJamisonCote,         I'm so pleased you bothered to check the "www.puppiesarebiodegradable.com" website out. The groundwater under some of Lancaster Co.'s farms is surely contaminated from the composted sick puppies strewn on the vegetable fields. It is a good idea to avoid eating produce that may be grown on one of those fields. Yep, no thanks to parasites, salmonella, or E. Coli on my salad!           Vigorosa

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Posted On Oct 12, 2007
If you live in the Central San Joaquin Valley in California, here is the local vegetable box we get, I highly recommend.  Good website to see how every community should do it right.

http://www.tdwilleyfarms.com

I have no personal affiliation, financial influence or otherwise with this family operated farm.  I just buy their produce.

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Posted On Oct 12, 2007
I can second that recommendation. We're a bit far from that farm now, but it's good stuff and the real deal.

Amanda

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Posted On Oct 15, 2007
I live in Central Illinois.  There are many options in the Chicago area for organic and raw food, but I am not sure how to find any good sources close to me in McLean County.  Any help would be appreciated!

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Posted On Oct 29, 2007

I live in the Fort Wayne, IN area and am blessed to get my grass-fed beef and chicken from a local farmer who I know raises good meat products.  He sells eggs too.  I just recently joined with another local farmer who raises fresh organic veggies throughout the winter months in his green house.  I joined his program and get a variety of different greens every week until summer.  Now, if I could just find some raw organic cow's milk...

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