So…having recently watched the documentary “The Future of Food” and then in speaking with a woman who runs a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, I began to wonder if other people thought the same thing I did; Is food the same across the board?  The answer is definitively, no.

While I would like to think that I could go get an apple at the store and then pick an apple from a tree at my local organic orchard and have them be the same, it just isn’t so.  The apple I pick up at the store has first (possibly) been grown from a genetically modified seed (meaning it originated in a Petri dish), then sprayed with harmful pesticides, then picked before it has time to ripen, then dipped in wax to preserve it and make it shiny, and trucked to my local supermarket from across the country or even flown in from another country!  My local organic orchard has likely saved seeds, allowed nature to take its course (with some nurturing; of course), plucked the apple once it has ripened, and handed it to me directly.  So, in this case, an apple is not just an apple.

So, why do we care?  What is the real difference?  Well, I have to believe that the rising rates of obesity, cancers, heart disease, diabetes, and everything else are most definitely affected by our “industrialization” of food.  The worst part about all this is, currently, I can’t even make a decision based upon the food labels in the supermarket if I want to.  What I mean by that is, if I decide not to eat GMO foods or only foods organically grown, the U.S. government does not require proper labeling for me to determine what I can or cannot eat.  GMO foods are in many of our products (and do not require labeling), and USDA “organic” labeling now only requires a product to contain 70% organic ingredients to put the word “organic” on the label.

Beware when you go out to eat also.  The food that you order at your neighborhood chain restaurant may not be what you think.  The food is pre-packaged and sent around the country and once you order it, it is taken out of the bag and heated.  That’s right, you might as well pick up a frozen TV dinner on the way home because there is not much difference!

Fortunately, there is still a way to ensure you are consuming real food that has been grown organically.  Buying local produce from small organic-practicing, family farmers is the way to go.  Not only are you voting with your pocketbook, but you are feeding your family quality nutritional products.  (And this blogger won’t even get into the rest of the politics and how the current system affects the demand for gasoline in this country!)

I could literally write a book on the subject of the food industry…hmm ;)  For now, I’ll say READ YOUR LABELS!!  If it is not food, don’t eat it (or buy it, for that matter!)