So it's been several weeks since our last post and I know that's horrible blogging, but we've been busy with friends and family in town for almost the past two weeks. I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Anyway, the last part of my organic vs. non organic is about Produce. This one is pretty surprising to me since you wouldn't thing that you could mess up fruit and veggies enough to make them harmful for you, but our corporate America has managed to do it.
To put it in a nutshell our produce contains about 25% of the nutritional value it did as early as 20 years ago. So for those of you who hate your veggies to begin with to get your daily 3-4 recommended servings of fruits and veggies you really need 4 times that to get what our grandparents and parents did when they were our age. That means you need to eat 12-14 servings of fruit and veggies to get what your body really needs, which is not realistic. Part of the problem is that the current daily amounts of fruits and veggies has been recommended for decades,but nobody has taken into account the dropping nutritional value each piece of produce has in it compared to when the formula came out. Makes you feel kinda stupid for eating all those gross veggies to stay healthy, and couldn't figure out why you still get sick.
One of the most interesting and alarming things I learned from watching Food Inc. was how everything down to the soil in America has been contaminated and stripped of nutrients. Anyone who knows a little about gardening knows that the soil is extremely important to any vegetation and determines how healthy the plant will be. Think of soil as the plants fruit and veggies. So if they have stripped down food sources then they will produce stripped down produce.
This soil issue is a product of decades of chemicals and pesticides being sprayed onto the fields which kills anything and everything living in the area. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that these chemicals are safe and don't effect the produce. Chemical companies such as Monsanto Corp. that makes Round Up actually created seeds such as soy beans, that are resistant to Round Up. Think about that monopoly for a minute. They own the rights to the only soy bean that is resistant to a chemical that they produce and sell...and virtually every soy farmers in America uses their beans and spray on their crops. The craziest part is that Monsanto actually owns each individual soy bean they produce and the farmers have to give them back after each growing season...They can't even clean and re-plant seeds from their own crops. I could go on more about this, but that's a whole blog in itself. Just check out Food Inc. if you want to know more.
Another main thing I found out about produce, especially fruit is that is all bio-mechanically engineered to look and grow bigger, the same size, color, and shape. This makes them more appealing so an average person will buy and eat more fruit. Next time you go to the grocery store check out the difference between organic and non-organic fruit....Apples and Bananas are easy to spot because organic bananas are much smaller and have spots and aren't nice and perfectly yellow. Apples are not all shiny and perfectly round, because they don't wax them before shipping them out. Yup companies actually wax your apples to make them that shiny...and you eat it along with all the chemicals and pesticides that are in the soil and on the plant. Makes you want to really eat all your fruits and veggies doesn't it.
The last issue I found with our produce is how old it is by the time we get it. Most of the time it's weeks old by the time it hits the shelves and has lost a lot of it's already depleted nutritional value. Farmers harvest their crops when they are very far from being ripe and so that by the time they hit the store they are just starting to ripen and start to rot. The problem with that is the produce isn't allowed the proper time to develop and "ripen on the vine" So you can see how it's only 25% of what it used to be.
Many of you will say "Hey I can eat a little wax and just wash my fruit if it saves me 50 % on my bill" and I wouldn't blame you, but there are other ways around it. Brooke and I along with my brother and his wife have started our own gardens. This is a great way to save money and get much better quality produce than you will ever get at any grocery store. You don't need a lot of room to have some sort of garden. Many neighborhoods are starting community gardens or share cropping, which is when each neighbor grows different produce and they all share it. Besides getting great produce and saving money there is a sense of pride in growing your own garden and it's a great way to get your kids involved and excited about eating fruits and veggies.
This year I bought my son and daughter their own hand trowels and we all planted the garden together. Every day Alivia looks outside to see how our garden is doing and get so excited when a new seedling pops from the soil. She helps me water the garden and take care of it and will be right there with me when we harvest our produce. It's no coincident that she loves eating raw veggies and one of her favorite snacks is a whole raw carrot. Much better than processed chips and junk food most kids love to eat. It's a great way to spend some time with your family and educate your kids on something useful they can use forever. Not to mention it will instill healthy eating habits and create a lifestyle that will stick with them when they grow up. So get out there and start your own garden now...spring is here and the weather is great. It's never too late to learn something new and start eating healthy.
