Sustainable Tarpon Springs - The High Cost of Cheap Food

Every time a distant Facebook friend or family member posts a picture of a table of full of processed food that totals under $10, I shake my head and ‘hide’ the story.  I almost cringe with embarrassment to know anyone who thinks this is a cool thing to do - both buying this processed junk, then proudly displaying the savings for others to see.  

Buying a table full of empty, fattening calories wouldn’t even be as bad as the reality of this kind of junk food.  It is killing many people in America, and possibly setting us up for the worst environmental and health disaster we’ve ever known.  Packaged foods with a shelf life longer than a human life doesn’t even have nutritional value, plus it has an array of unhealthy preservatives.  The packaging even compromises our environment.

In recently reading an article by Dr. Mark Hyman, he discusses the hidden costs of people choosing cheaper foods.  He mentions the $30 billion a year subsidies corporate farmers receive to produce two of the most genetically modified crops in the world today, corn and soy. These crops are used to produce two of the worst food components we’ve ever eaten: high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated soybean oil (trans fats).  Even so, Hyman is only lighting upon the tip of this ‘Titanic health iceberg.’

This morning I read that children who eat 12 or more hotdogs a month have 9 times the risk for developing leukemia.  This stat is most likely due to the chemicals in this ‘mystery meat’, but the way corporate farms are raising meat nowadays in crowded lots, with antibiotic feed, we all are at risk of a much worse health disaster from the resulting bacterial resistance that occurs.  

In the 2009 documentary, Fresh, a pig farmer who opted for the more modern technologies to increase his production, had a life-threatening wake up call when he was ‘tusked’ by one of his boars and nearly lost his life to an infection that wouldn’t respond to any of the antibiotics he was being given in the hospital.  After recovering from this dramatic health event, he realized he couldn’t, in good conscience, subject the public to meat raised this way any longer.

He ended up eliminating his entire drove of pigs, cleaned up his ‘factory farm’ and started over, raising them the natural way his father had done for many decades.  He was far more successful, the pigs lived happier, freer, healthier lives, and he actually saved  money by not buying into the chemical and antibiotic feed that are a requirement of a factory farm. The only winners in corporate farming are the chemical companies.

Even those folks who do opt for more conscientious diets are having issues with food in America.  Do you ever wonder why we are becoming less tolerant to the ‘staff of life’ humans have enjoyed for thousands of years?  I don’t think there’s ever been a time when Americans were on more restricted diets than today - gluten-free, soy-free, yeast-free, you name it - we are more paranoid about diet being connected to our health woes than ever before. 

I recently read another story about a woman who was advised to rigorously avoided gluten for many years, but when she traveled to Europe, she couldn’t resist the aromatic rustic breads, and she was surprised to discover she had no digestive reaction to it whatsoever.  When she came home, thinking she could resume her normal diet, she started having the same health issues all over again.  It really made her wonder what is hidden in the wheat grown here. 

We have reached a critical point in this country.  Instead of our food being our first line of defense against disease, our eating habits have likely become the #1 reason for our rising health care costs. This is a perfect time to explore the opportunities to find more locally grown organic fruits, vegetables, and home-raised meat (if you are an omnivore) - and truly get back to real food with beneficial nutritional value.

We can reverse the trend of high production, low quality food by refusing to support it with our dollars.  This affords us the opportunity to rediscover the joys of unprocessed, simple, organic food that is rich in flavor and healthful nutrients.  This is most sustainable for Tarpon Springs, most sustainable for our planet, and sustainable for our long-term well-being. 

Let’s celebrate real food that is nurturing and healing!