Buying Locally Grown

I can't stress the importance of buying locally grown goods.  Buying locally grown is like throwing a Molotov cocktail in the face of Monsanto and Bayer and Syngenta. And if you have a revolutionary nature like I do, then that alone is reason enough to start shopping at your local farmer's market or natural food co-op.

My daughter tagged along with her camera. I had to goof off for her!

BUYING LOCALLY GROWN- WHERE DOES YOUR FOOD COME FROM?

I am going to forego talking about the processed foods from the center aisles of your grocery store- I talk about this a lot, but for the sake of this blog, I am going to just say- Don't eat that crap. Trust me. Its bad. God only knows what havoc its wreaking on your immune system.

 Having said that, some people really do try to shop mostly from the outer edges of the grocery store, where the so called fresh food can be found. Even so, the food there has some issues that are not obvious. Produce, for example. We can now buy strawberries and seasonal produce year round. Sometimes its more expensive than others, depending on the season. Usually, the produce is shipped in from other states, and even other countries, like South America. What this means is that your produce was picked well before it was ripe, in order to get on the shelf in time and also allow it to sit on the shelf for another week or so. When produce is picked before it is ripe, it is lacking the natural processes that make it not only taste good, but deliver nutrients. The nutrients come in the maturation process, so when a tomato is picked several days before it is ripe, even though it will continue to ripen while its in a box on its way to the grocery store, it is not ripening on the vine and lacks the necessary sugars and sunlight to become a true representation of what a tomato should be. You can also see the difference with your own eyes. Cut open a tomato from the grocery store and its water-y and goopy and has lots of space inside it- often only the outer part is usable. But cut open a vine ripened fresh locally grown tomato, and its solid tomato meat all the way through.

My beloved Studio City farmer's market. Its also a fun way to spend a Sunday!

So, by the time it gets to you, its been picked too young, put in boxes and transported across states or even countries. It doesn't taste or look like a tomato that you bought that was picked the day before, as you get from a local farmer, and it lacks the full range of nutrients, too. It is a well known fact that in countries that eat a mostly plant based diet, there is a lack of the major illnesses that plague us in the USA. By eating the most nutrient dense produce you can buy, and learning to eliminate processed foods (I know, it takes time. Even I have a list of 5 that I am not ready to give up yet.) and reducing animal based foods (I said reduce. If you can eliminate them, then I totally salute you, but I am definitely not there yet. However, I now eat meat about once a week. My weakness is milk.) you can significantly decrease you and your family's chances of succumbing to such abundant ailments as obesity, high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Fresh fruit and vegetables contain what our bodies need to function properly and stave off illness and disease.

"Let food by thy medicine." Hippocrates said that. Every Dr has to swear a Hippocratic oath to this day in order to become a physician- that's how legit Hippocrates is. And how not legit many Drs aren't.

Check out this trailer from the documentary Forks Over Knives. Its a must see! And don't worry, so many people tell me they are afraid of seeing how animals are treated in meat processing plants- they don't really show all of that. They just tell you some amazing facts that everyone should know.

Another big factor is the cost to the environment to ship all of this produce all over the world. Often your produce has been in several trucks, planes, or trains before it gets to you. There is a lot of fuel used in this transport. When you buy local, you are not contributing to the exorbitant waste, or the emissions from said waste. Local farmers drive to the markets, but not usually from very far, with their fresh, vine ripened produce. So it tastes better, is healthier, and doesn't contribute to the consumption of fossil fuels.



Checking out the zucchini for some Bomb Ass Zucchini Chips!!!

You also don't get GMO produce, since you know where it came from. They don't sell Frankenfoods at farmer's markets. And those who created genetically modified organisms want the small farmers out of business. Its very convenient that they are killing off the honey bees, which farmers have relied upon since the beginning of time to pollinate their crops. When you support small farmers. you DO NOT support those power hungry assholes that are ready to sacrifice the health of you, your children and the planet for profit.

 

ITS NOT JUST FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

At all farmer's markets, you can find a variety of things besides produce. I get fresh eggs from hens that are free range. They left the hens only a day or two prior to my getting them, rather than weeks after. They taste amazing!!! I also get my soap at my local farmer's market in Studio City, spices, and fish. They also have meat from grass fed cows, handmade clothing and jewelry, organic chousehold cleaning supplies, organic coffee and honey, some cool herbal tonic drinks, fresh squeezed orange juice, locally grown nuts, and smoothies. I always buy a bouquet of lilies for $5. One of my favorite discoveries is Nary Dairy,  a cheese alternative spread made from cashew butter.  The Nary Dairy people are so super sweet, and I love eating food made by such great people. My favorite is the Chia Cheddar. I eat it with quinoa, flax and chia seed crackers.  No more chips, no more candy bars,  no more grazing on snack stuff from 7-11. This stuff is awesome!

With Suzanne from Nary Dairy. Such great people!!! So yummy!!

I now do at least half of my weekly shopping for my family at the farmer's market, and I continue to learn new recipes so that I utilize foods that I can buy there, like my Bomb Ass zucchini chips. It makes me so happy to eat food that supports the local farmers, does not support shipping produce all over the world, is ripe and fresh and nutrient dense and delicious. I love that I walk to the market to get it, use only my recycled shopping bags, and don't purchase anything in packaging- no waste whatsoever. I love that I am not supporting the giant food corporations that would like to jeopardize our health to keep Big Pharma fat and happy.  The revolution starts with making different choices in who and what your dollar supports. So its a big fat UP YOURS to Monsanto, and that makes me ecstatic.

Not everyone has a local farmer's market, and not everywhere has a climate where they can buy locally grown.  Here are two helpful websites that can assist you in finding what is in your area-

CLICK HERE for a farmer's market locator.

CLICK HERE for a natural foods co-op locator

Don't forget to use recycled shopping bags. I will soon have some snazzy Shake The Hive market bags, with little produce bags inside so you don't have to ever use any plastic bags again.  A friend of mine is helping me with the new logo, and I can't wait to unveil it!

Don't forget to March Against Monsanto! Check out the facebook page for the March nearest you

Shake the Hive!

Ashley Dane