Here’s a storytelling twist we are hoping for. The focus this month is to get off our high horses and embrace and love and adore and endear produce that is ours—produce that is geographically close to us needs to be close to our hearts and our plates too! Why, you ask? Because that would be good for our health and good for the health of the environment. Here’s how:
- Let’s take an instance of roti versus bread. Wheat grains are plucked from the farm, taken to a grain mill (chakki) and milled to make wheat flour. We keep this flour at home and use it in small batches each day to make rotis.
We purchase bread from a grocery store. Bread manufacturers would take the wheat flour dough, culture it with yeast, allow it to rise, bake it in the oven and voila: we have bread. During the milling process, coloring agents are added, flavoring agents are added, stiffening agents are added and lets not forget, the end product is packaged in plastic and shipped far and wide to stores.
Ask yourself now, what’s better for your health? And what’s better for the environment? Winner gets to enjoy better health!
- Second instance is an orange from California versus an orange from Satara, Maharashtra. Obviously enough, the fruit which has traveled a shorter distance is more nutritionally intact! Another obvious fact, the fruit which has traveled a shorter distance has consumed less fuel and thus, utilized less of environmental resources available to us.
Ask yourself now, what’s better for your health? And what’s better for the environment? Winner gets to enjoy better health!
- Third instance for today will focus on mangoes. Imagine if you could eat mangoes all year around! Okay, I know the thought is remotely enticing but think about it. Do you honestly feel that they would taste good all year round? Don’t they have an ethereal charm because you can ONLY have them during the summers? Admit it. The fact that these mangoes play hard-to-get is what makes them more appealing to you. And this is true nutritionally as well!
- This is not an instance but a fact. Local food systems have a shorter distribution distance between grower, producer and consumer. In addition, local food systems often cut out the middlemen involved in processing, packaging, transporting and selling food. And since we are stating facts, this does work out to be better both for your health and for the environment
- Finally, a little experiment you could do at home to check how locally and seasonally savvy you and your family members are. Ask the children at home, “Where does food come from?” If they say, “The farm!” know that you are on track. Although if they say, “The supermarket!” or “The grocery store!” you may be in trouble and it might be time to re-evaluate the shopping processes at home