26 May EcoTip #7 Fresh Food: Beautiful, Delicious and Probably More Nutritious
The food grown in your own community is fresher and more delicious than food that is transported thousands of miles from farms far away and sits on grocery shelves for who knows how long. Locally grown food also is likely to be more nutritious. From a survey of studies on this topic, Harvard Medical School Center for Health and the Global Environment concluded that:
- When the highest post-harvest handling standards are met, foods grown far away spend significant time on the road, and therefore have more time to lose nutrients before reaching the marketplace.
- Second, farmers growing for a local (and especially a direct) market favor taste, nutrition and diversity over shipability when choosing varieties. Greater crop diversity from the farmer means greater nutritional diversity for the eater.
- Third, in direct and local marketing strategies, produce is usually sold within 24 hour after harvest, at its peak freshness and ripeness, making consuming them a more attractive prospect.
- Fourth, during this short time and distance, produce is likely handled by fewer people, decreasing potential for damage, and typically not harvested with industrial machinery.
- Minimizing transportation and processing can ensure maximum freshness and flavor, and nutrient retention.*
In Austin, sources for locally grown food such as farmers markets and community gardens are growing. The Sustainable Food Center website offers a listing of these markets and gardens as well as a newsletter with information on upcoming events and classes.
Another way to have locally grown food is to grow your own garden. You can start small and increase what you plant each season. Gardening is a great learning experience for adults and children. Fresh air and exercise are side benefits. Citizen Gardener offers gardening classes and permaculture classes are available on how to care for the land and water, and grow your own food. Some schools have gardens and “Green Classrooms” where parents and children can learn to garden together.
Seventy percent of people eat out 90 percent of the time. If you have been relying on packaged foods and restaurants for the food you eat, here are some tips for getting back in the kitchen:
- Look at what is in season. If it is green and leafy, marinade it in olive oil and organic soy sauce; sprinkle with nuts and other seasonings.
- Add any kind of fruit to a salad.
- Encourage children to eat fresh spinach by dressing it with a nut (almond, cashew, walnut or peanut) butter mixed with orange juice.
- Or wrap an apple slice and nut butter in a spinach leaf.
- Pick five fruits, five vegetables and five spices (select some you have never tried before) and play mix and match.
For classes on gardening, check out these resources:
More about the benefits of locally grown food:
International Society for Ecology & Culture
*”Is Local More Nutritious?” It Depends – Harvard Medical School Center for Health and the Global Environment http://chge.med.harvard.edu/programs/food/nutrition.html
Heaton S. Organic Farming, Food Quality and Human Health. A Review. Soil Association, 2001.
Worthington V. Nutritional quality of organic versus conventional fruits, vegetables, and grains. J Altern Complement Med. 2001; 7(2): 161–173.
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