I love food. It's important to me for the endless variety it offers when I'm hungry or just need a break. I don't simply live to eat or eat to live, I like to think that I can find a balance between the two, a way of making my eating experiences a little bit more exciting, especially on those not so exciting days. I also like to think of myself as an environmentally aware person. So, naturally when grocery shopping, I find myself confronted with the question of to buy organic, all-natural, or just stick with what I usually get. I'm budget conscious and anything labeled organic isn't necessarily budget priced, at least not on the surface. I don't think I'm the only one with this concern. I wonder if there is a way for me to rationalize buying higher priced, supposedly more environmentally conscious, organic food?
A book is a great way to make a train commute go by faster. Not to mention it helps me, a very un-morning person, to wake up in the morning. My current read and source to help me rationalize buying organic, is Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma. I'm not going to get into the debate between industrial organic and pastural organic farming. I like bananas, which I don't believe are a USA North East locally sourced food item. What appears to be clear though are the vast nutritional benefits of eating organic. Beef, chicken, eggs, veggies, all high in the vitamins and minerals and flavors that make food so good. Yes, supposedly the flavors are much more vibrant because of the slower, more intense, growing process with less emphasis on man-made chemicals. This reminds me of the wine industry where older grapes, whose roots go deep to get nutrients, from a lack of artificial fertilizers, are considered to make better wines. If it works for grapes, then why wouldn't it work for other food types? I think it can. Growing food with less artificial ingredients would also mean less bad side effects. What's with the boom in cancers, diabetes, and who knows what else and the drugs to cure those...which also cause their own less than desired side effects?
If eating organic gives me more energy to keep up with the world, without having to pop a bunch of pills, then I'm for it. Multi-vitamins aren't the tastiest to me. And if organic farming helps to build soil quality, allowing MORE food to be produced, creating more jobs and local economic growth (because more people will be needed to help grow and sustain the organic farms) then I'm for it. It's no secret that oil based fertilizers ruin the ground and our health when it leaks into water systems. Just look at the Gulf of Mexico. But, what about everyone else? How can someone who still views the $1 value meal as the best thing going see the benefits of eating organic. Especially when it's been demonized as being elitist?
Does it all go back to grocery stores? Yes, farmer's markets, community supported agriculture (CSA), and co-op grocery stores are becoming more popular, but they are still a very small portion of the grocery shopping landscape. Grocery stores are still the big boys on the block and most people still get their groceries from here. A good question is how can grocery stores make organic as easy as the $1 value meal? Fresh, prepackaged foods, where all of the hard choices have already been made for you. What to eat, how to cook it. Because isn't that the real secret to the $1 value meal, convience and low stress? Would it be interesting to have a grocery store that doubled as a chef's prep and cook kitchen? The smells of breakfast, lunch, and dinner being freshly prepared throughout the store with pre-made packets to make the meals at home. The meals could be placed in reusable dishes, ready to go, in various serving sizes. Maybe throw in some recipe cards for the more adventurous?
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| Is it possible for this scene to become a permanent fixture in grocery stores? |
I think it's time for grocery stores to step up to the challenge of providing better food service for our families. Yes, there are the Whole Foods and Trader Joe's of the world, but are they doing enough? What can they do better?
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