Whole Foods, Organic Foods, Local Foods, Soy Foods

When I go to the grocery store, my first priority is usually to check the labels of most of the processed food I purchase, because nowadays most products contain some type of soy, a food which I am allergic to, along with peanuts and all other legumes. This scanning of ingrediants on the labels of most food not only leads me to discover whether or not the product contains soy lecithin, soy protein or any other form of soy but also learn whether or not the product is local or organic. If I have a choice between two similar products, one of which is organic or local and one of which is not, then I will usually choose the product which is better for the environment.

My infrequent shopping trips to Whole Foods in Tenleytown are cause of specifically close attention to ingredients since (it seems to me) there is a much higher proportion of products containing soy at that grocery store than any other, because soy is often an ingredient in healtheir foods. I am often distraught when watching tv commercials about healthy living when the commercial discusses how great it is to have a diet of nuts and soy. In addition to having more products containing soy, however, Whole Foods also has a number of organic products. When one thinks of Whole Foods, the thought which often comes to mind is that it is an environmentally conscious store. I bought a recycled bag from there last year and bring it back to the store so that the clerk doesn't have to use new paper bags, and the store has many recycling bins for different forms of recycling.

I was at Whole Foods the other day buying ingredients for a salad. I perused the fruits and vegetables section and came across some tomatoes which looked really good. Then my friend and I continued to look around, and came across some organic tomatoes. I actually stopped and thought, "I should buy these instead, because they are labelled organic, and I should support that." There are several problems with this, however. One is that the organic tomatoes were crawling with small bugs. When I looked at the bottom of the package of tomatoes, there were tons of bugs and I was pretty disgusted. The unfortunate problem with many organic products is the side effect of bug infestation, which makes it look less appealing. I am someone who is concerned about environmental change and who wants to try and support endeavors to help the environment. Even I, however, was deterred by the amount of bugs on these tomatoes.

The other problem which often crops up with organic products such as these tomatoes is that it is difficult to tell just how "organic" the products really are. I have heard that it is not that difficult to get organic labelling on your products, so even if I do chose a product labelled "organic" over another similar product, how do I know what kind of an impact that choice has made? I think that there should be labelling for different levels of organic products so that I can make choices which are better informed, because when making these environmentally conscious choices, it is important to feel that you are truly making a difference. Food shopping today for the environmentally concerned consumer is difficult because it is hard to tell how "organic" a product is, because sometimes certain allergies can prevent one from eating something, and because sometimes organic products can be covered with insects.

I believe that buying local is better than buying organic, even though both have their merits. It is difficult to tell to what extent a product is organic, however. With locally grown food, the food does not need to be flown long distances, tastes delicious and supports famers nearby. Buying local is really great, because often there are cute farmers markets to visit and the food tastes fresh since it was grown nearby and did not need to be shipped long distances and produce pollution.

I spent the past few days thinking about what kind of foods I eat. TDR recently had an eating locally day where they had delicious cider grown nearby and a great salad with yellow tomatoes which I really enjoyed. I was glad that they were having a day dedicated to eating locally and was proud to support that day. It's hard sometimes to know whether your food comes from local farmers or not, however. This is especially true at restaurants. When I eat at a restaurant, I never know whether or not the food is local or organic because that is usually not something restaurants advertise. My guess is that a lot of restuarants aren't overly concerned with buying locally or organically unless they specifically advertise the fact that they are a restuarant dedicated to providing environmentally conscious products.

I think that the product which caused the greatest environmental impact that I've eaten in the past few days was a water bottle, since water bottles use a lot of plastic. Usually I try to use the Brita filter in my room for water, or the water fountain down the hall in the dorms. It is definitely much better to bring a reusable canteen for water, but I don't always remember to do that and so sometimes use a water bottle. I would like to cut down on my use of water bottles since they are detrimental to the environment since they are made of plastic. I did recycle the water bottle, however, so atleast the bottle can be reused.

Considerations about what types of food we buy, where they have come from and how they were grown are important in order to help the environment. It is a complicated world however, especially at the grocery store when you are trying to decide between whole foods, organic foods and local foods. Even though it takes some consciencious thinking and some careful decision making, however, I do believe that informed decisions about food choices can be made. Just because it takes some effort does not mean that it is not possible.

Taking the time to make the right food choices will have a positive impact on the environment and can taste really good too!