Unless you are getting your food from your own yard or a noble local farmer CSA or weekly basket program, or even the local farmers market, then you probably have no idea that those grapes you bought at the grocery most likely came from Argentina and quite possibly have been sprayed with uncontrolled pesticides and fertilizers.
While I cannot say I totally know where all of my food comes from, I do know this, the food that I grow in my yard is safe to eat, totally organic, and will not cause me to get sick, or to die for that matter.
Got sprouts? Better watch out if you bought them from the grocery!
Got green onions? Better watch out of you bought them from the grocery!
Got packaged/bagged/processed lettuce? Better watch out of you bought them from the grocery!
Got apples? Better watch out of you bought them from the grocery!
While it is typically safe from a statistical point of view to eat all of the foods I mentioned above, at some time in the recent past (2-3 years) each one of those food items has been linked to foodborne illness outbreaks in the US or European markets. Individuals have become sick, and still some have actually died for eating these contaminated food items.
Here are a few snapshots of our home garden.
The basil in full glory including purple, Greek, common, and Thai basil
Raised bed of basil in the front yard
The spearmint patch along with some oregano too
Spearmint and oregano bed in front yard
The pansies in full bloom, with some chives and aloe in small pots too
Pansies in the front yard
Chew On This!
MBA Healthcare Management and Aria Cahill have produced the infographic below which covers food borne illness and gives several ways to prevent getting sick by cooking and prepping food more safely.
In the spirit of the folks mentioned in the article they come from the ranks of folks like these:
It’s the mom and pop farmers who sell their fresh produce at local farmers markets.
It’s the folks who own or rent homes with front yard vegetable gardens.
It’s the yard to table folks who grow their own produce to save money and eat what they know.
It’s the growing localvore movement that benefits from locally generated jobs which provide locally grown produce to farmers markets and aspiring restaurants.
It’s the permaculture and folks who work the land in a symbiotic relationship with rain, water, soil, surrounding trees and the existing land to benefit better use of resources.
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Bakers Green Acres based out of Marion, MI is a farm which raises, produces and sells chicken, pork, beef, and eggs and also teaches classes for those who want to learn how to farm.
They also raised funds to build a learning center to help encourage and teach more folks about the importance of growing our own food, and not just meat and protein, but vegetables and carbohydrates as well. Mark Baker describes in the video embedded below how important it is for our generation to learn how to raise and produce our own sustainable food sources.
Their Indiegogo ANYONE CAN FARM: America’s Farm to Fork Academy crowd sourcing project only raised $12,837 of the $75,000 goal. I am hoping that this effort does not die and they continue to offer their on-site courses which can be found on their calendar page. They are also working on some online courses for future offerings.
I myself would love to learn how to farm, and not just the vegetables and produce that I’ve been growing for years, but poultry, pork, and beef also. This seems to be a growing trend especially with the explosion of farmers markets in recent years, the farm to table, and localvore movement all makes more sense to me today than ever before.
