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Health & Fitness

Are Ossining & Croton Locavores Cranks?

Musings on the Ossining and Croton-on-Hudson area locavore movement.

There’s a persistent image of the local food movement as a bunch of hippie, obsessive cranks who spend way too much money on food, shopping only in food co-ops and farmer’s markets in a misguided attempt to rebel against “The Man.”

Several months ago, I read a column that described the locavore movement in just this way, as one searching for “a foodie utopia where a rainbow coalition of backyard farmers will solve the nation’s food ills by growing charmingly mottled heirloom tomatoes.”[i] 

Now, according to Dictionary.com, the definition of “locavore” is “a person who attempts to eat only foods grown locally.”  Seems pretty accurate and straightforward to me.

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I can only speak for myself, but I know that I’m not trying to solve the nation’s food ills one heirloom tomato at a time, nor am I rebelling against anyone.  Selfishly and embarrassingly, I am not even much concerned with solving “the nation’s food ills.”  I just want to feed my family healthy, wholesome food.  So, to that end, I try to educate myself as thoroughly as possible about the origins of, ingredients in and production methods used for my food.  I’m also more than a little concerned about the environmental impact in the growing and transporting of my food.  And ironically, despite all the chatter about excessive government oversight in our daily lives, nowhere does there seem to be LESS oversight than in the food chain. 

For example, let’s look at the GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) controversy.   GMOs are plants that have been modified in laboratories using sophisticated molecular biology techniques.  In doing so, plants can be engineered to be resistant to droughts, cold or pests.  The nutritional value of the plants can even be “hyper” nutrientized.  On the surface, these attributes seem like positive things, especially when you consider the fact that 13% of the world’s population goes hungry on any given day.[ii]   

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Yet, there’s a dark side to this GMO business.  Plants are engineered to produce seeds that won’t germinate, so that farmers are forced to buy seeds every year.  Even more disturbing is that plants are also often engineered to grow under heavy doses of specific herbicides, like glyphosphate (one of the main components of the weedkilling Round-up).  Because farmers can use more herbicide without worrying too much about killing the plants they’re trying to grow, increasingly high concentrations of it are being found in rain, air and streams.  Since glyphosphate is a systemic chemical that works by being absorbed into plants, it ends up in our food in alarming levels.  And several studies sponsored by the National Institute for Health have noted that glyphospate is toxic to the human endocrine system, and causes hormonal disruption, possibly leading to birth defects.[iii]

Wait, how did we get to glyphosphate – wasn’t I talking about GMOs?  Right, well, this is the problem with our food chain.  There are so many hazards and so little reliable information.  And, being a true chain, everything is connected to everything else.

Back to the GMO controversy -- there is much we really don’t understand about GMO-altered foods, most especially how they can affect the human body differently than non-GMO foods.  For example, animal study data from the American Academy of Environmental Medicine seems to indicate that there are serious health risks associated with eating genetically modified food, such as infertility, problems with the immune system, and increased incidences of diabetes[iv].   But there is not one single US government agency that regulates GMO products, so it’s difficult for the non-food scientist consumer to find clear information about this.  One would have to sift through the results of various research studies performed under the fractured auspices of the EPA, the FDA and the USDA.   There is no final, mandatory step, no synthesis of all the different test results, no information database geared towards consumers.  Questionable test results are often buried under an avalanche of bureaucratese amid scientific jargon.  From my layperson’s point of view, it all seems very patchwork, inaccurate and scary.

Worst of all is the fact that in the United States, GMO products are not required to be labeled as such.  When I buy corn and soybean products, flour, canola oil, or products that include sugar beets and high fructose corn syrup (which is just about anything processed), nothing on the label informs me whether or not these ingredients have been genetically modified.  (Interestingly, though, all foods containing GMOs must be labeled if being exported to many other countries.  I have to wonder why this is the case if GMO foods are perfectly safe?)

This uncertainty leads me down dark paths.  I don’t quite understand the hazards of GMO engineered foods, if there indeed are any, because the information on such hazards is so vague and hard to find.  I do know, however, that several of the European Union nations have a blanket ban on all GMO products due to safety concerns.   That’s enough to make me worried about GMOs.

So, no, I’m not wearing tie-dye and rebelling against the Man.  I am, however, questioning a system that keeps me, the consumer, in the dark about the dangers lurking in my food.  Buying food produced locally gives me a sense of control that I lack when I shop elsewhere.  I feel better buying my produce from the small, local farmers I talk to on a weekly basis, and whose farms I’ve often had the opportunity to visit.  Many of them adhere to organic standards, eschew toxic pesticides and display produce that is healthier looking than that grown conventionally.  I also like the camaraderie and community feeling I get from visiting a farmer’s market and the knowledge that a local business run by real people contributed to the food on my table.  Plus, the fact that much of my food isn't flown or trucked in from thousands of miles away can only be an environmental plus.

If thinking this way makes me a crank, then so be it.  What could be more important that paying close attention to every aspect of the food we eat and serve to our families?   

 

[i] http://ideas.time.com/2011/10/14/the-locavores-illusion/

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