Our Health and Environment

The High Cost of Cheap Food

Our current agricultural model has an array of hidden costs. It takes a toll on workers and residents in farming areas, wildlife, soil, air and water supplies; it depletes natural resources that are non-renewable or slow to renew, and dumps toxins into what remains.

Ultimately, it takes a toll on the health of those who consume this denatured, contaminated and ultra-processed food, and it threatens the very ability to continue about a mere 20 to 60 years in the future!

According to various scientific predictions:

·       Within 60 years, the world's topsoil may be completely lost.2

·       Potable water is quickly being depleted and becoming increasingly scarce.

·       By 2050, antibiotic resistant infections — a health crisis directly attributable to industrial farming — may kill 10 million people worldwide each year.

·       Phosphorus, needed for fertilizer, may soon be completely depleted. Modern fertilizer consists of varying amounts of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Both phosphorus and potassium, neither of which can be synthesized, are becoming increasingly sparse.

According to the Global Phosphorus Research Initiative (GPRI), we could hit "peak phosphorus" as early as 2030. Without these fertilizer ingredients, the entire world would quickly be in trouble. Phosphorus in particular is critical for healthy plant..

If you think eating healthy means only what you eat, then it may be time to reconsider your definition of "healthy living."

From shopping at farmers' markets to carefully selecting the bags you carry your food home in, there are ways to take healthy eating to the next level and help save the environment while you take care of yourself.

Use Reusable Bags

Each year about 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide. At over 1 million bags per minute, that's a lot of plastic bags, of which billions end up as litter each year, contaminating oceans and other waterways.

Plastic bags, like the petroleum they are made from, don't biodegrade very well at all, rather, they photodegrade.

Meaning, they break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits, which contaminate soil and waterways, and enters the food chain – animals accidentally eat these bits and pieces, mistaking them for food.

It's estimated that 1 million birds and 100,000 turtles and other sea animals starve to death each year after consuming plastic debris, which blocks their digestive tracts.

Paper bags are not an environmentally friendly alternative, as millions of trees must be cut down to make them each year… and the process is very energy intensive.

Carry reusable shopping bags instead; keep them in the trunk of your car, or stash a couple of the small fold-up varieties in your purse so you're always prepared. You can also use avoid plastic produce bags (put the produce right into your reusable cloth bag instead) and use reusable cloth bags for packaging your child's school lunch.

Choose Foods with Minimal Packaging

If you can choose foods in bulk, unwrapped form, do so. Excess packaging only adds to the waste filling up landfills, and often it's made out of toxic materials (like Styrofoam, which may cause cancer and produces hazardous waste and gasses when manufactured).

Ditch Bottled Water

Bottled water is perhaps one of the most environmentally unfriendly industries there is. Americans consume about half a billion bottles of water every week!

The environmental ramifications of this practice are enormous. (Take it with you on the go using a glass water bottled.)

 Think About Where You Shop

Choose to purchase your food at stores that have a thoughtful selection of local and organic foods, as well as store practices that limit waste, such as putting doors on the refrigerated section or offering a recycling program. Even better, shop at Farmer's markets to support local farmers and craftspeople.

Disclaimer: The information on this POST is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional advice. The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this article is for general information purposes / educational purposes only, and to ensue discussion or debate.     

Thank you … Get Your Produce Locally. Locally-grown produce is not only fresher, it will not have to be shipped across the globe to get to your dinner plate.  

Remember, food grown locally is not always organic. Though it may be grown just down the road and sold at your local farm stand, it may still be doused in pesticides and grown in chemical fertilizers, and tended by workers being paid unfair wages. 

At the same time, the organic certification process established by the federal government is expensive, and some small farmers cannot afford it. This means some local foods are grown according to organic standards but are not "certified organic."

Eat More Produce

If you eat meat that comes from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) (one of the worst ways to raise food environmentally), then eating more produce in lieu of it will give the environment a break. CAFOs are a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution and deforestation, so whether you eat more produce or choose to get your meat elsewhere, both will help to save the planet.

 Eat Organic Produce

The fewer chemicals used to grow your food, the better for all concerned. And the only way to ensure your food is as pure as possible, outside of talking to the farmer directly.

 Want to add word or two?  

Eat Your Produce Raw

There are a myriad of health reasons why you should consume more of your food raw… but from an environmental perspective, you can save some energy by forgoing cooking and chomping on raw (or fermented!) veggies instead.

 Eat In Season

When you choose produce in season, you can shop locally and support farmers in your area – a huge win for the environment! As a bonus, it'll taste better too.

 Ferment or Preserve Your Veggies

If you have a lot of summer fruits and veggies that you need to use up before they spoil, try your hand at preserving them so they're available to you year-round. You can also ferment your veggies, which is absolutely fantastic for your health, and they will keep for months in your fridge.

Your comment ….? 

Loss of water quality through nitrogen and phosphorus contamination in rivers, streams and ground water (which contributes to "dramatic shifts in aquatic ecosystems and hypoxic zones")

Agricultural pesticide contamination to streams, ground water and wells, and safety concerns to agricultural workers who use them

A decline in nutrient density of 43 garden crops (primarily vegetables), which suggests "possible trade-offs between yield and nutrient content"

Large emission of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide

Negative impact on soil quality through such factors as erosion, compaction, pesticide application and excessive fertilization

Most meat sold in grocery stores comes from CAFOs, so avoiding this meat means getting your food from local growers or seeking out certified organic, grass-fed meat

 Buy Locally-Grown Meats

As with produce, buying your meat from local sources is best for both your health and the environment.

 Focus on Organic Meats

Certified organic meat (and milk) must come from animals that have had access to pasture for at least four months of the year. Further, 30 percent of the animals' feed must come from this grazing time, and the animals cannot be given antibiotics or growth hormones.

The most important foods to buy organic are animal products – not produce – because animal foods, which are raised on pesticide-laced feed, tend to have higher concentrations of pesticides.

So when prioritizing your purchases, look for organic meats, eggs and dairy products before anything else.

Opt Out of Antibiotics

About 80 percent of all the antibiotics produced are used in agriculture – not only to fight infection, but to promote unhealthy (though profitable) weight gain.

Feeding livestock continuous, low-dose antibiotics creates a perfect storm for widespread disease proliferation – and, worse yet, antibiotic-resistant disease.

The link is so clear-cut that the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal feed has been banned in Europe since 2006.