by Mehreen Husain
If I was given a couple hours to do anything, I would take myself to any grocery store, explore the aisles and start reading food labels. I know. It seems strange. My friends and family members refuse to go grocery shopping with me because they don't understand how I get such deep satisfaction in a supermarket. I am always finding new items I had never seen before or discovering new savvy, slick food labels with catchy phrases to catch the eye. After all, these days an average supermarket carries 30,000 to 40,000 products.
Sometimes I wonder if I should just make a living out this obsession with grocery stores: get paid by someone to consciously sift through the thousands of items and pick things I feel best will suit his or her tastes. Hmmm … I would love to do that, maybe it can be my back up plan if my master's in clinical nutrition doesn't get me anywhere.
These days, food shopping for the non-obsessed can be an confusing hassle. What's good for you? What's good for the environment? Is organic better than locally grown? Luckily, there are sherpas of food politics like nutrition professor and Harry Chapin Media Award winner Marion Nestle. Her book, What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating, has truly made an impact on how I navigate the supermarket.
Nestle's basic principles of good eating are easy to digest: Eat less, move more, and eat lots of fruit and vegetables. How do you make the best choices with your fruits and veggies? "Whenever I have the choice, here are my priorities in that section: 1) organic and locally grown, 2) organic, 3) conventional and locally grown, 4) conventional,” Nestle writes.
Why does Nestle put items in that order? What is the big deal about organic products vs. locally grown foods? Well, food in the U.S. travels an average of 1500 miles from farm to plate. All this shipping uses large amounts of natural resources and is said to contribute significantly to pollution while creating excess trash with extra packaging. Conventional agriculture also uses many more resources than sustainable agriculture and pollutes water, land and air with toxic agricultural by-products. Organic foods, on the other hand, are said to be good for the environment, healthier, and even taste better. Organic farming prohibits the use of toxic and persistent chemicals, and no antibiotics or synthetic hormones are permitted. Organic production also prohibits the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). But here's the kicker: a study from March 2005 by the journal Food Policy found that the miles that organic food often travels to one's plate create environmental damage that outweighs the benefit of buying organic. The Department of Rural Economy at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada found that the environmental cost of greenhouse gas (CO2) emitted to transport 20 tons of organically grown produce was similar to that of bringing the same amount of conventional fruit and vegetables to market.
Having "control over your food," especially for people in urban areas, is also a socioeconomic issue. It is clear that the best option would be to buy locally-grown, organic produce. But how accessible are these foods? To the majority of individuals and families, it is inaccessible. Each with its own benefits and faults there are very few individuals who can actually afford to make an effort to be a socially, environmentally, health conscious shopper all the time. And as a National Hunger Clearinghouse program assistant, I know that for the majority of the people calling the National Hunger Hotline, none of the above options will be their priority. They want the most for as little money as they can spare. Most likely it will not be organic or local.
For the average shopper, who is trying to decide when to splurge on organic produce, researchers at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a research and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., have developed the "dirty dozen" fruits and vegetables that you should always buy organic, if possible, because their conventionally grown equivalents tend to be loaded with pesticides. Their list is based on an analysis of more than 100,000 U.S. government pesticide test results.
Fruit:
Apples, cherries, grapes, imported (Chili) nectarines, peaches, pears, raspberries, strawberries
Vegetables:
Bell peppers, celery, potatoes, spinach
Other organic foods worth considering:
Milk, beef, poultry
Many people are puzzled with such information and won't eat fruits and vegetables because they are worried about harmful pesticides. Though I prefer they pay $2 for a pear (regardless of where it comes from, and yes, I have bought a pear for more than $2 in Manhattan) than $1.25 + cost of medical care for a giant croissant, the reality is that many people can't afford it nor think about their future health.
When Nestle was asked in an interview to discuss products she often finds confuse consumers, she used an egg as an example. An egg is an egg. They're mostly distinguished by price and color, and there is no nutritional difference between brown ones and white ones. So you pick your issues. If you care about how the hens are treated, you pick the cage-free kind. If you want omega-3 fats, you pick those (although fish are a better source). If you talk to people who work at grocery stores, they just think it's hilarious to add value to eggs. Eggs are eggs. Some are bigger, some smaller. The most important difference is size — even in my family, bigger is better.
Although some conventional grocery stores are finally carrying organic produce and natural products in limited quantities, you'll pay a higher price for them there than at the natural food store. If you have the option to buy organic, choose which kinds of things to buy organic. My neighbor — a young, health-conscious Manhattanite — told me that if you're serious about buying organic food and living a healthier lifestyle, you'll eventually want to switch from shopping at a conventional grocery store to shopping at a natural food store (also known as a “health food store”) and get ready to spend some extra bucks. I couldn't help but ask why I would spend more on food than I already do living in the city. She responded with a smile saying, "You will feel much better." But I think I will hold on to my few extra dollars for now.
Every business must make a profit to stay in business but not necessarily at the expense of our health or the environment! So, the ball is in our court as consumers, and we need to pay attention to how each purchasing decision can lead to a safer, greener, and more equitable society. There are many changes that we are seeing take place in our own communities.
Last night, as I was getting ready for bed, I heard a story on the local nightly news about a new diet. I couldn't help it but laugh it off and thought to myself, "Oh no! Not another diet." But as I listened closely, the diet's name was intriguing — the new "green diet." The foundation of the diet is plant-based foods rather than meats and dairy, with an emphasis on reducing environmental damage through one’s eating choices, which are limited to a tight mileage budget. I guess this concept needed to be given a diet-like name to catch peoples' attention. On the other hand, if we just want to avoid words such as "diets" all together, we can simply request our local food chain managers have certain items ordered. If there is a demand for it I am sure you will see it in your grocery store. I know I do at my favorite haunt all the time.
