One thing that I've been trying to do more of is buying and eating locally. I define this as within a 100-mile radius. People 100 years ago got by (with a much smaller radius) and I think I can too without really impacting my lifestyle. There are blogs and websites devoted to this type of thing and while I can't make it an intense focus in my life, I think I can survive the winter (or summer) without produce that has to come from across the world. Produce that has been genetically changed so that it ships better, stays fresh longer, looks prettier, is more uniform in size, but generally tastes worse. I set out to find a farmer's market that I could easily visit once a week and select locally grown produce. What I found is that the farmer's market in Winter Haven, FL has a very small amount of produce grown locally and the rest is probably produce that is bought wholesale (think of the stands on the side of the road). I was hoping to see dozens of local growers selling their products. I think there were two people like that. I'm going to one in Lakeland next week, so maybe it will be more promising. If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it.
The next is another in I'm sure a long line of Netflix knock-offs. This time it's Netflix for toys. Via Treehugger, the toys are sanitized and tested and you send them back when your child gets tired of playing with them. I know from experience that kids like some toys and you wonder why and they refuse to play with the coolest toys you buy them so a service like this could prevent waste (like that ball shooting toy that broke after 10 minutes of use). Or it could teach your kids to be absolute toy snobs. I'm not sure, but it's interesting to see things like this becoming more common.
Also, GO GATORS!
Living Local
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We have a small (very small) farmers market here in Hattiesburg. It is all local produce but the selection is limited. They did have the best blueberries I've ever eaten. I hope it grows.
Though I agree that home-grown foods taste better than produce mass-shipped throughout the world, let's not badmouth bioengineered foods. Along with being altered to help with shipping and appearance, they are also engineered to be pest resistant and disease resistant which greatly reduces the need for chemical crop applications. Certain foods have been engineered to address nutritional deficiancies (Golden Rice), and nearly all bioengineered foods have been altered to require less fertilizer and irrigation. Support your local markets, but don't steer clear of bioengineered foods just because. In many cases, bioengineered foods are "greener" than non-bioengineered.
Pat thanks for sharing your expertise. I'm glad to see that master's degree taught you something.
I'm not so much against bioengineering, except the risk of pathogens devastating homogeneous crops. That aside I'm all for making crops that require less water and less chemicals. The first "Green Revolution" after all involved bioengineered wheat in the 60s(?), making cheap food available and saving millions of lives. Of course many attribute the worldwide population explosion to this, so it was a mixed blessing.
I think the point we are getting at is that local foods (be they bioengineered or not) are better for the planet and your taste buds then food flown in from across the globe. This does means eating only what is in season, which may be an impossible shift to make in our consumer culture.
Of course many areas of the planet are not good for agriculture and need to import food, which begs the question as to why in the hell anyone is living in such inhospitable places.
Good point Pat. I guess my main concern is the distance traveled. I will, however, defer to you as agricultural genius, as anyone who spent 10 years in pursuit of a degree must be an expert in the subject.
There's definitely a little bit of cognitive dissonance in my mind on this subject. The prevailing mindset among greenies is that natural is better...always. But, I'm also a fan of progress and technology, so "improved" food like that described by Pat seems like a step in the right direction. Hmm.
I think I'm on-board w/ locally grown food whether it's engineered or not.
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