In this day and age of organic produce, does anybody read the labels anymore?!
In this day and age of organic produce, does anybody read the labels anymore?
I've paid particular attention to organic food and found that the majority of it is shipped into the country from other parts of the EU, like Spanish tomatoes for instance. As these are perishable good, they must be flown into the country, causing more damage to the environment then their home grown counterparts. I Know not all produce is avaliable all year round, like strawberries and asparagus, but shouldn't we only eat organic if it's home grown.
Answers:
ROFL! I'm sure lots of us feel the same hopelessness over the ironic truth that imported organic is possibly worse enviromentaly then locally produced, regularly farmed, produce.
i tend to shop for veg in places where labels are scarce indeed... namely local farmers markets and direct from the field. Its all a case of how serious you are about eating green and living green... the hypocrisy equation.
I choose to eat local goods because the flavor and overall quality of a carrot that been out of the soil for perhaps 8 hours is always going to beat the Safeway Bulgarian import... no chemicals is always a plus... But when you get right down to it whats more important, eating and living green or not eating veg cos the only organic on the shelves comes from 1000 miles away and you don't have the time to do a "river-cottage" and grow your own? Do you choose to buy organic but still wash up with a chemical washing up liquid ? or use electricity in your home ...that hasn't been generated by wind farms? ...or drive using a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine?
If its a case of no organic or imported... just buy the imported! honestly, considering the emissions imprint of the average western citizen it makes so little difference... and its still better for you then ingesting arsenic, cyanide or whatever pesticide the regular stuff is covered in... also bear in mind that local non organic farmers use pesticides that often are imported..on planes or diesle powerd ships or by truck into the uk or wherever you are. so its six of one and half a dozen of the other!
Happy eating.
I don't buy a lot of produce at stores...quite honestly it freaks me out with all the E-coli that has been found. We have a garden at my house so we grow our own veggies and some fruit and we freeze it for the winter. When I do buy things at the store I do look at the labels though. I think that some people eat organic because it doesn't have as many pesticides and what not and don't pay attention to where it is coming from because they aren't buying it to better the environment. That is how it is where I am from at least, not to say it isn't different other places.
Eat home grown organic I say! As far as labels are concerned I do read all the lables and think you are right about the imports, it cannot be environmentally friendly to fly perishables over here. Best solution is to grow your own if you have the space.
Organic or not, I agree with you about the cost to the environment of carrying fresh produce half-way around the world. I always read the labels to see if the product is produced locally, and if it isn't, I don't buy it.