Trade offs

[eqfe]

"Eat food, not too much, mainly plants

Comments

[florahart]

I think this is a complex balancing act, and that really, what I want is for me and other people to be mindful of all these factors and opt against blatantly wasteful behaviors as a general tendency, you know? I mean, I think if everyone simply thought about it and made local or organic or plant choices as a usual thing, and understood they were sometimes being extravagant (and made that a luxury rather than a daily choice), that would go a long way.

[imaginarycircus]

Excellent point and ITA. Many people are not very mindful about what they eat and where it comes from.

I try very hard to buy local, organic food. Once a week I get a CSA box from a local farm. In the late spring, summer and fall all the produce comes from Massachusetts or New Hampshire. In the late fall and winter everything comes from the east coast. They are able to give us some local produce, but some things come from Florida and North Carolina.

I buy lots of rice and I have no idea where exactly it comes from, but it is totally not local. I buy citrus fruits, especially lemons and limes and they are never going to be local. One of the reasons I do a year round CSA is to support a local organic farm.

[verygwen]

My take on it is that I try to do my best. For me, this involves buying cow and pig in bulk from my local meat farmer. I get whole chickens when I can from the same farmer. During the market season, I get as much of our produce as possible from the market. I buy flour and corn meal from my parents' produce place when I visit them. Technically it's not local to me since it's 180 miles away, but I can't feel bad about that since it's not like I'm taking a special trip to buy the items. So those are clearly the areas where "my best" is pretty good :)

In the winter, it's harder and I'm relegated to the grocery store. I buy organic when I can and tell myself that the fact that this is stuff I'm concerned about and do my best with is a huge step in the right direction.

Where in MD are you? I'm in southern MD. :)

[amyura]

I think the big-three rules overlap and intertwine with things like local, organic and sustainable. One way to be sure that what you're eating is indeed food is to buy it unprocessed from the people who grew it-- no chance for Monsanto or ConAgra to get their hands on it and extract the commodity ingredients and reassemble them into something else. Farmers who are willing to look you in the eye while they sell you what they grew and take ownership of the entire process can, in my experience, articulate exactly what tradeoffs they've made and why, and they stand by their decisions

[aki_the_wingly]

At least it's better than the stuff you just toss into the microwave.

[sangria_lila]

Word.

[little_e_]

Peanuts, rice, pasta, and things like that at least are very cheap to transport, because they don't require refrigeration and can sit around in a warehouse for a bit without going bad. I'm not going to feel too bad about them.

Bananas are a different kettle of fish, obviously. I love bananas and am not going to cut them out anytime soon for various long-winded reasons related to just plain trying to feed my family. My rule #1 is that we must eat and be healthy, and bananas are part of that for us right now.

However, it is the middle of winter, and we both live somewhere food does not grow in the middle of winter. This means we 'should be' eating a lot more meat, root veggies, and preserved foods and a lot less fresh fruits and veggies this time of year. If you can eat that way without driving yourself batty, might be a decent idea.

[bitchie_poo]

ot but your icon is glorious.

[little_e_]

Thank you :)

[eqfe]

Potatoes, carrots, and our own canned veggies are important parts of our diet in winter.