Tomatoes in December

Do you know where your food comes from? Sure, we buy our bags of lettuce, tomatoes, chicken, and eggs from the grocery stores. I regret to inform you, however, that lettuce does not grow in bags, tomatoes are not supposed to be "fresh" in Pennsylvania in December, and chicken's breasts are not naturally that large. (Yes, even chickens breasts are augmented)

Recently I watched the movie "Food Inc." This movie attempts to tell us where exactly our food comes from. At one point, the screen filled with hundreds of acres of cattle eating corn in brown desolate land. Cows do not naturally eat corn, but corn is a quick easy food source to give them and boosts production and efficiency. Mad cow disease and other food contamination has come from cows whose diet is solely corn. There is some reaction in the cows stomach with bacteria and corn which scientists describe, but the end reaction is the same, poor food for the consumer. So, is efficiency what our consumption and production should be based on?

I saw chickens kept by the thousands in small coops that could only take a few steps before falling over due to enlarged breasts from hormones and other chemicals in their food. In the end all we see are large pieces of meat neatly packed by the hundreds in the grocery store. But what are we eating, chicken, or chemically enhanced chicken look alike. At what cost to our own bodies and the bodies of chicken do we get our big cheap meat? The system is very efficient, but again, at what cost?

Both the chickens and cows are kept in close quarters, so much so that most of their days are spent walking, sitting, and sleeping in the feces of the animals around them. What are we eating?

Most of the places that these animals are raised look more like factories than farms. Smoke stacks hover over fields while smoke pours into the land. Lush green vegetation can hardly be seen anywhere. What happened to some of our farms? These are not rare occurrences either. A majority of meat is produced by only four (4) companies in the U.S. and all four of these companies handle and prepare their meat this way.

The good news is, we have a choice. We do not need to eat meat look alikes enhanced chemically or fed an unnatural diet. We can benefit our own bodies and the bodies of the animals that we eat by buying food that you know where it comes from.

"Food Inc." ends with a clip showing a farmer Joel Salatin in Virginia (pictured above). The farmer walks around his lush fields where his cattle roam, feeding on their natural diet, stretching their legs, and in return fertilizing the land as their waste goes back to the earth grazing from field to field. Chickens freely walk in and out of their coop eating the grass, bugs, and other feed, growing fully and naturally. The farmer and his family sell fresh meat to customers up to nearly five hours away. While this may be a long drive, these customers not only know exactly where their food is coming from, but they have a relationship with the farmer. A closer example of a farm that grows free range chickens and cattle is in Ohio, where my friends Mel and Steve Montgomery live at Lamppost Farm.

For further information on how to get fresh food around you google CSA (community supported agriculture).

Eat fresh, live well, be informed.