Recently, I have spent a lot of time thinking about and looking at where my food comes from. It is a constant quandry. I feel like we do a pretty good job; we have a big garden, we buy poultry and winter vegetables from the Fisher-Merritt Farm in Wrenshall and I always pay attention to where my food comes from when I buy it at the co-op or other stores. Somehow, it is a losing battle. We try to eat organic and we try to eat local; doing both is best but not always possible. So then, what is more important? Local or organic?
I feel like more folks should think about this. With all the recent craze of organic foods, the fancy new co-op, the new organic section at Cub and no less buying organic foods at Sams club, what is a consumer to do? Well...here is my take on the matter.
Buying at Sams Club is simply out of the question; sure it's organic but it is a big store and I care not to support their business. Besides, most of the food comes from far away places racking up "food miles". (A food mile refers to the number of kilometers that various food items travel from where they are grown or produced to where they are consumed. We all know, for example that buying apples from Chile is probably not a wise choice.)
Buying at Super One or Cub. Well I would rather would not support these stores either but I admit to buying some things there. I will also say that hey...for a big guy Super One does a pretty good job supporting local companies. Kudos to them; Cub is a little lower on my list. Sure, its a little nicer but they don't support as many local companies.
Buying at the Whole Foods Co-op. I do most of my shopping at the co-op but I admit to recently being a little disappointed there as well! They do a pretty good job carrying local products but I still see an awful lot of items from far away places that come in an awful lot of boxes. I just check every label to help determine which brand I am going to buy, which will not include those apples from Chile.
Buying from the Fisher-Merritt farm, harvesting in my own garden, picking local strawberries at Finkes, picking local raspberries in Esko, picking blueberries in Cloquet, picking apples in Bayfield, picking cranberries in Hayward, visiting the cheese place in Carlton, heading over again to the Fisher-Merritts to pick up my Thanksgiving bird, freshly slaughtered, heading down to the freezer to get some venison or grouse shot by my husband....these are all things I feel VERY good about. I never thought I would say that I had a deer in the freezer but now I do and I am glad! Some of the drawbacks of eating locally is that not all things are in season all of the time. You may not get mangoes to eat, but you WILL be supporting the local economy and doing what little part you can to do your part in helping our Mother Earth. She really will take whatever she can get.
Keep in mind that some of the things you may buy may not say "organic" but just read the ingredients or ask the farmer and you will find that a great number of them are pretty damn close to organic, they may just not have the money to afford the label "organic". A great local resource is to go on www.minnesotagrown.com and see what you can find locally. You have to work at it, you have to take the time. It is well worth your while and you will be helping our local economy, your body and our earth.
