The more I learn, the less I know

I attended a seminar about eating locally this afternoon at our library. That discussion actually branches into the idea of eating "responsibly," "consciously," or "sustainably" (a word that does not pass the spell-check test, but will probably soon make its way into the pop culture dictionary).

This certainly is not the first exposure I've had to such an issue. I've written before in this blog how I first heard about becoming more conscious of whatever we put into our mouths, at a La Leche League meeting nearly 30 years ago. And it's been a long, strange trip since then.

I was on a first-name basis with the term "whole foods" a decade and a half before I ever knew there was a store by the same name. I knew that eating whole grains really helped with weight loss at least 25 years before the Cheerios commercial told me so. (Of course, whole grains or not, losing weight was a lot easier when I was in my 30s than it is now.) My friends and I organized a food co-op back in 1982, so that we could get local, whole, and organic foods at more reasonable prices than they were commonly available.

Times changed. The food co-op went on for a dozen or so years, but eventually the Ann Arbor warehouse closed and we had to get our food trucked in from a bigger cooperative that was based in Wisconsin. Then it became easier to get the same items at equal or better prices at Meijer--and there was no work required. There didn't seem to be as much need for a co-op.

As we re-claimed our share money and went our separate ways (in our own cars) we all patted ourselves on the back and congratulated ourselves about how smart we were to have been on the leading edge of such a movement, and of course it was probably all due to our buying power and increased awareness that these foods were now in the local grocery stores. Or the not-so-local Sam's Club. Or the big shiny new WalMart a couple of towns away. And even as we did so, we were getting away from some of the purposes of why we started the co-op in the first place.

Over the years I have continued to try and purchase organic foods when possible, and I have continued to use whole-grains and minimally processed foods in my own kitchen, as well as choosing more whole foods when possible if I eat away from home. I have also often chosen to spend my money more locally, at our village grocery store that has a smaller selection of food, but is within walking distance of my home.

But now, almost every store has "organic" foods available. It's the new buzz word at the big chain stores--Target, Meijer, WalMart, etc. I put "organic" in quotes because somehow I wonder where WalMart gets their "organic" foods (if they are indeed, organic or if it's just another clever ploy about better living through shopping). My suspicion is that they get it the same place they get just about everything else they sell--China. Do I want food that was grown half a world away even if it does somehow meet someone else's standards of organic?

So the question is, do I really want to buy organic foods or do I  want to buy things that I know where they came from ... even if they aren't officially labeled as organic? It seems to fit better with my general outlook at this time to be purchasing local foods from local growers, even if their practices don't qualify them as organic farms.

I've tried to be more discriminating about my purchases recently. Yes, I have probably still bought some strawberries that were shipped in from Brazil. I have bought (somewhat) fresh vegetables in the middle of winter that are no way in season in Michigan, or even in a neighboring state. I've bought salad greens in a bag or a box. I've also eaten at McDonald's once in a very great while. But I still try to be more conscious of my food purchasing choices.

Getting back to today's talk, I learned that there are political undercurrents surrounding the "organic" movement, which makes it even more appropriate to put the word in quotation marks. The current trend seems to be toward "Certified Naturally Grown," a grassroots farmers group that is an alternative to the USDA Organic certification. I learned more than I want to know about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). Enough to either want to stick my head in the sand and say "La La La" or to learn even more about what is going on in the food world these days. I think I have my work cut out for me.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is another huge trend--you purchase shares in a small, private farm and in return you get a certain amount of food each week throughout the season. It's very popular in southeastern Michigan and more and more small farms are participating in such a venture. Today's speaker is a CSA farmer in Manchester and I am aware of several more existing and emerging CSAs in the immediate area. Visit www.localharvest.org and simply enter your ZIP Code to find out more about some of the ways you can be a part of this movement.

I think I'm going to be coming back full circle to the food co-op of 25+ years ago. And I think I might like it.