15 Mar Fri 2013
Food Serenity
I'm sure you've heard of the Serenity Prayer? Your food is one part of life that there are things you can control and things you cannot and we need to know the difference.
With all the noise in this very big and open world it's very easy to get lost and overwhelmed. When we go to the "store" whether you are shopping at a grocery store, your local health food store or a farmers market we look for and purchase what is available labelled "organically grown" or "certified organic". This is wonderful because it means you and the producer care about HOW the food is grown. But, have you thought about how any food including GMOs can be grown and certified organic? Organically grown foods are much better than mass production chemically treated foods. However, if that food is a genetically engineered variety it is not what you intended for your family's daily nutrition. These things are things we can make ourselves to be aware.
On the other hand, while we can do what we can to pay attention and make more informed purchases we are limited unless we know who and how our food was grown. Foods that are mass produced somewhere far away to be brought as a supply to your local market could be within a few miles or even simply separated by mere feet in the very same fields with GMO varieties or treated with pesticides and chemicals. The problem with either scenario is that cross-pollination can affect clean food fields or natural run off and ground saturation can contaminate even the best of farmers intentions.
The solution to this issue is to buy local and get to know your farmer personally. Visit the farm regularly and chat their beliefs and standards for the food that goes onto your own family's table. Farmers are usually very friendly and community oriented and love to talk about what they do. Help them by keeping an eye out for any new development around their farms or other things that may need to be brought to their attention so that they can provide you with the best that nature has to offer without man's tampering.