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What issues are important to you and your family surrounding food? How do you decide what to buy, where to buy it from, how to prepare it? There are so many issues surrounding our food these days, and so many great conversations going on in our society in attempts to help us to learn and ask questions about our food in order to make educated choices.  

I wonder what is important to different people, and how they are changing their food habits based on their individual concerns. I feel the need to start a dialogue. 

What is important to me, is not what is important to others. Some care more, some less, and some, sadly, not at all. I want to form relationships with the people that produce my food, and ask questions to learn about their processes. Organic is important to me, but local even more so. Affordability is a key influencer in the decisions I make, and while I would love to buy organic everything, it is just out of reach at this point. So, I make choices. Smart ones, I hope. When I go to a restaurant I prefer to see them making local choices, in both food and wine.

Where do you draw the line? What is important to you? What influences your decisions? 

 

 

Comments  

 
# 2010-10-23 16:03
local > organic

Growing methods are important to me: I prefer foods free of pesticides/herbicides/GM foods. I prefer to shop at local markets and talk to the growers so I know what I am consuming.

I (currently) draw the line at alternative products, such as nuts, seeds, spices, chocolate, coffee, teas and exotic fruits. Sadly, for these products, I lack knowledge about sustainability. I suspect that in the near future, my individual concern will grow; right now however, its a matter of affordability over quality.
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# 2010-10-23 23:20
I very much agree with your local>organic, obv. and the affordability issue. That is important for a lot of people. I do, however, strongly believe the public is misinformed and needs to be educated about how they spend their food dollars. The true value of food has been forgotten in an "on sale" an "mass market buying" economy.
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# 2010-10-25 13:45
I truly hope that more and more people demand organic to the point that the need for pesticides disappears.

Something that I came across recently that compliments and makes organic work is, biodiversity. Roughly speaking smaller more staggered plots instead of huge plots of one item. Also growing certain flowers to attract birds (that in-turn eat the bugs) can eliminate the need for pesticides.
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# 2010-10-25 14:08
My wife is a recently-trained holistic nutritionist and as such, our diet has improved significantly (and needless to say, our understanding of the value of what goes into our mouths has increased substantially over the last couple years). First for us is getting rid of processed food as much as possible, meaning most meals are prepared from scratch back like our mothers and mother's mothers did (for the record, I'm not being sexist...just that's the way it was). Next would be eating more plans than animals...we're not vegetarian but have tried to reduce the animal protein we eat. Up next is local. We prefer local and organic, and we're very supportive of local farmers doing things with heirloom seeds/plants as much of the large-scale farming seems to have drained all the nutrients from food (good references in this book http://bit.ly/af0kPt) Organic and local are almost tied, as we are trying to minimize the chemicals ingested - especially when you consider the concentrations that end up in animal proteins.

The dilemma is that the cost of eating this way is higher, and sourcing this food is more difficult and time consuming. To counter the costs, we tend to eat out less than before, and more often than not we will get takeout to enjoy at home with our inexpensive local ON wine.

I think the cost of good quality food is definitely one of the biggest impediments people face (for many people, it is a matter of trade-offs, and spending money on your health should take priority). And then there are our Canadian winters which make it impossible to source fresh, local vegetables of any decent variety (although we've started canning again, which is another throwback to the way things used to be done).
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# 2010-10-25 14:23
Organic milk (and all dairy) and fruits and vegetables like spinach, leafy greens, strawberries, apples, potatoes, tomatoes are typically what I buy organic.

Growing organic vegetables in the garden during growing season allow for additional variety and keep it affordable.
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# 2010-10-31 19:01
I would have to say eating organic is number one for me. But it's a dichotomy as well, because I also would like to eat local as much as possible. So the dilema ensues when ther are organic apples from South Africa and conventional apples from say, Ontario. Which is worse?!
Also, eating local is something I try to stive for. However, I love cocoa and Green Tea but I don't live in South America or Japan. So I buy local as much as humanly possible!
I agree, the cost of being a conscious consumer is high but I think it's well worth it. Hopefully one day things will turn around and a McDonald's hamburger will cost $5.00 and a pound of fresh organic local apples will be a dollar.
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# 2010-11-02 15:13
I have the same questions and thoughts as Candice - do I buy the organic apple that's imported, or the local conventional one? In this case, I'm more worried about pesticides so I'd go organic. Maybe I need to be more educated on what processes each apple goes through.
I've decided that it's worth it pay a bit more for local/organic produce. But I'd rather organic than local, if the local is sprayed with chemicals.
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# 2010-11-03 12:32
Related to this discussion, @ChefMichaelSmt h made a couple of interesting points in a great speech at OCTA that Suresh Doss posted here on SpotlightToront o:

http://bit.ly/9zuZSn


Best quote: "We have the cheapest food in the history of mankind...and we are getting exactly what we pay for."

Best fact: "North Americans spend 2X more on healthcare than on food."
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