You Have the Power to Change the Food System

Declare your Food Independence this 4th of July by preparing a meal made with only local ingredients - join others in this grassroots campaign.

Independence day is fast arriving (where has this year gone?) and although, most of us are just thinking about how to spend the holiday, it’s also kind of nice to remember what the day is actually about: that us Americans are a scrappy bunch who think for ourselves and are willing to do whatever it takes to make big changes in our lives - even if it means revamping the way we buy and grow food. We may not be getting a lot of kudos around the world right now but I can’t help but focus on what we are good at: we are pioneers, we’re inventors, and we don’t give up.

And now we have a big food mess on our hands. Our aptitude for technology took us down the wrong road - when we should have just stuck to eating what Mother Nature intended.  I won’t bother listing off the many problems we are facing - fortunately, some pretty smart people have already done that in some great books and in Food, Inc. (which I highly recommend seeing - it’s funny how people find it easier to learn that our planet is melting than discover what we’ve been eating all these years).

I prefer to be the bearer of good news and fortunately, I have some. I’ve been part of a fringe food movement for over 15 years and in just one short year, that Food Movement has gone so mainstream that it’s landed directly on the White House lawn. Every day, I receive emails through my nutrition listserves discussing extraordinary people working hard to improve our food system on behalf of you and your children. There is more opportunity to make changes to our food system now than ever before and you don’t have to be a nutritionist, a farmer, or a writer in order to pitch in and help keep the ball rolling.

I’m not sure who coined the phrase, “Vote with Your Fork” - but it looks like it was Marion Nestle. Regardless of who invented it, it’s brilliant. It can be hard for the average citizen to feel like they can make a difference in the face of huge, powerful food companies - but the truth is, they are more dependent on us than we are on them. Although it may not sound easy, we do technically have the power to grow our own food. Urban farmer, Will Allen, of Growing Power (featured in this Sunday’s NYT magazine) is showing lots of people how to do exactly that - no matter where they live. And for those who can’t start a farm in your backyard or on your rooftop, you can still be a lobbyist and advocate every time you go to the grocery store.

Why do you think major stores started carrying more “natural” brands? Because you asked for them. Every time you buy groceries and the bar code slides over the scanner, you are telling a marketing company what you prefer to purchase - you are able to: Vote with Your Fork - and also Lobby for your Local Farmer or Advocate for Clean Food:

1) Ask your produce manager if they carry fruits and vegetables from local farmers. The more you ask for it, the more likely they will start carrying it.

2) Talk to whoever is in charge of meat ordering about whether your store carries local, grass-fed beef from reputable ranchers (beware that many labels, including “grass-fed” doesn’t always reflect the highest quality meat).

3) Make friends with your fishmonger and learn from them which fish are fresh and wild-caught, which ones are farm-raised (very few fish farms are reputable although they do exist) and print off a  list of “Best Choices” of fish to bring to the store with you. Mark Bittman wrote about how complicated this topic has become if you want to learn more about it.

4) Become more savvy at recognizing when companies are using vague or unapproved label claims to sell their products - many terms like “natural” may mean nothing (or in the recent case of Horizon, may mean “no longer organic”). I will work on writing a longer post about this topic in the near future.

5) Be aware that the “hippie” brands (like Toms of Maine and Odwalla) you thought were owned by small, independent companies often have been bought by the same 12 or so huge food companies. Your best bet is to buy truly local products as much as possible - keep asking questions about where your food comes from - the more we keep asking for this information, the more likely we’ll get it.

6) Remember that making small changes is still helpful. If we all worked on making even the smallest changes (buying free-range, organic eggs or local fruit), we will keep moving in the right direction. Don’t think your changes don’t matter - because they really do.

“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”   -Margaret Mead

Happy 4th of July!