Be a Food Citizen – 12 Actions for Food System Change, Part 2
6. Be a curious customer. At a grocery store, restaurant, cafeteria, or catered event, ask questions about the food in the aisles, on the menu, or banquet table. Where was this grown, or raised? Do you know if any of these items were produced organically? Is the chicken free-range? Is the fish wild caught? Is the beef pasture-raised and without sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics? Questions such as these send a message to the grocer, restaurant chef, caterer, or cafeteria manager that these issues are important to their customers and will start sending these market signals up the supply chain.
7. Eat lower on the food chain. Foods of plant origin “ fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, grains, nuts and seeds are not only highly nutritious and healthful, they tend to be less resource depleting than animal products. This is especially true when animals were raised on grain in concentrated feeding operations. In general the amount of nutrition you get from vegetables per resources used to produce them is higher than meat and other animal products.
8. When you eat meat, choose pastured, free-range, grass-fed. Research shows that these production practices are better for the environment, farmers quality of life, the farm animals quality of life, community and public health, and may result in healthier products. With more demand for pasture-raised, free-range, or grass-fed animal products, the supply will increase and the price will come down. Remember the price of meat and animal products are artificially low because some of our taxes are being used to subsidize commodities that are used for animal feed. This is an issue that is routinely debated in each Farm Bill.
9. Eat whole foods, support nutrient-retaining processing. Much of the shelf space in todays supermarkets is occupied with highly processed food products. Unfortunately, fat (often unhealthy trans fats), sugar (most commonly high-fructose corn syrup) and salt are often added to highly processed food products. Processing often extracts nutrients and essential fiber from foods. By focusing on whole, minimally processed foods, you will help decrease demand in the marketplace for such processing and the food and agriculture policies that support it.
10. Add variety to your plate to promote biodiversity in the field. The cornerstone of nutrition advice is variety in the diet. It turns out that this is good not only for our health but is good for local agriculture and the ecosystem. According to a study of seed stock availability conducted by the Rural Advancement Foundation International by 1983 we had lost nearly 93% of lettuce varieties, over 96% of sweet corn, about 96% of field corn, more than 95% of tomato, and almost 98% of asparagus varieties that were available in 1903. So its important to encourage a return of diversity in the food system. Farmers who are growing for a local and direct market will choose varieties of fruits and vegetables that are bred for taste and freshness rather than for shipping durability and shelf life. They will choose those varieties that are best suited for their particular regions (or their specific acres!). By growing a greater number of varieties of any given crop, farmers increase the genetic diversity “ and therefore ecosystem health and stability “ on their farms. And oh! How this will delight your palate!
11. Support grocery stores, cafeterias, restaurants, and diners that provide local foods. Through farm-to-cafeteria programs in schools, colleges, hospitals, and corporations, local procurement for grocery stores, and emerging chef-farmer relationships a growing number of places we buy and eat food are providing local options. These efforts need to be rewarded. Send a positive vote by spending some of your food budget at these locations and be sure to tell the management that you appreciate it. If you dont find local food where you buy or eat food, encourage these establishments to purchase more of their products from local farmers.
12. Get Cooking! In 1980 Colin Tudge wrote, The 21st century, so close at hand, could be the most pleasurable and the safest time that the world has yet experienced, for all humanity and for our fellow creatures; or (so present events often suggest) it could bring all kinds of disaster. Which outcome prevails, he suggests, will not depend on technology but upon the simple day-to-day acts of individuals “ the most important of which is cooking. As anyone who has a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share and has brought a parsnip or rutabaga home for the first time knows, it is essential to gain some cooking skills in order to eat happily from the local harvest. New techniques and new recipes are often called for. This is not only true for the individuals “ the food skills and kitchen facilities at places with cafeterias also need to be developed. Through cooking a food system revolution can start “ one kitchen at a time.
