Three cheers for processed food!

My wife and I believe it is important to be better stewards of the resources given to us on this Earth. We have a finite amount, and regardless of whether or not we have reached a peak, conservation is ALWAYS important. Nearly every major lifestyle choice has had one thing or another to do with this conservational mindset: our living location, means of transportation, stores we frequent, etc.

One of the best things about where I live is that it is directly behind a Cub Foods grocery store, so when the need arises, we can simply make a short walk and pick up our groceries, buy in smaller quantities to prevent waste (we don't need any "family size" packs), and, where possible, go organic. When the local farmers' markets come to town during the non-winter months, we make every effort to attend them. The produce is fresher and it really does make our food taste better! We spend extra money to obtain the highest quality organic, cage-free, local, humanely raised, etc. etc. etc. products for our stomachs.

Unfortunately, using only the aforementioned buzzwords in one's shopping habits is not really the best way to make one's purchases. For example, last month I decided that I needed to increase my consumption of fresh fruits and veggies because I have a bad habit of dining out FAR too frequently (for proof, you need only take a look at my food journal blog post). With this goal in mind, I snatched up all the organic berries, citrus fruits, chiles, and veggies as I thought I could use for a few days. Here's the catch: last month was February...not exactly peak growing season. Every item I ate from this batch was a dry, leathery, tasteless piece of junk. I try to support our local farmers, but it led me to wonder: when our local farms are covered in snow and ice, where exactly is this organic, local stuff coming from anyway? And is this flavorless way the future for me in the ostensible interests of my future health?

Indeed, food processing technology is not itself inherently evil. Several food studies have shown that frozen and even canned green vegetables are quite close to fresh vegetables in terms of nutritional value. My great-grandparents had a long-standing tradition of canning their food, a skill I'm sure their parents and grandparents passed on to them in order to survive the Minnesota winters. Norman Borlaug grew hardy strains of grains in order to allow farmers to grow things on increasingly barren land. Monsanto famously markets genetically engineered corn labeled "RoundUp ready". In each of these instances, we efficiently gained viable food supplies whereas before, we only had the dry, leathery stuff I spoke of before...or perhaps would have had to do without. Without food processing, our Minnesotan ancestors would never have had an adequate supply of food to last through the winter until they could use the farmland again. Without Mr. Borlaug's ingenuity, millions more would have died of starvation worldwide for lack of nutrition. More recently, without "RoundUp ready" products, our farmers could lose entire years' worth of crops from a simple insect infestation.

Obviously, there's a lot of information to weigh at the supermarket besides the latest food buzzwords!