I can live without a lot of things, but I am not willing to live without food! This oil crisis must be pretty serious if it's affecting our food supply! Big grocery stores like Ralphs, Vons, and Safeway tend to stock their trucks with food grown in very oil-intensive ways. Plus, it takes a lot of fuel to ship food products ALL over the world.
SOURCE: LifeI'm training for a half-marathon so I tried to eat organic and whole wheat food. Since it now costs companies more money to produce and transport their food, I guess I should consider shopping locally. Have you ever been to a Farmer's Market before? Anyone ever try to grow your own fruits or vegetables in a backyard garden?
SOURCE: EpicuriousFrom Cid Yama's Blog: A Grocery Nightmare
Have you seen the prices lately? Even the marked down meat was too expensive. I'm not paying over $5.00 for a pound of ground round. Seems no one else is buying either. It's not like there is a shortage, the shelves are full, but it's like they spent the last couple nights marking everything up. I felt like I was in a food museum. I could look but I wasn't about to buy anything at those prices. After wandering the aisles I left without buying anything.
Across from the hospital there is an empty lot where locals bring produce in their pick-ups to sell. I decided to try there and the prices were a whole lot more reasonable. Imagine that. This could actually force me to improve my diet, eating fresh produce instead of processed foods.
I wonder if there is a local meat market? I can't remember seeing one. With Kroger, Albertson's, and Wal-mart in town there may no longer be one. I'll need to get out the phone book and look. Since we are surrounded by Cattle ranches you would think someone should be selling locally. With what they are charging at the grocery stores they could make a bundle.
Across from the hospital there is an empty lot where locals bring produce in their pick-ups to sell. I decided to try there and the prices were a whole lot more reasonable. Imagine that. This could actually force me to improve my diet, eating fresh produce instead of processed foods.
I wonder if there is a local meat market? I can't remember seeing one. With Kroger, Albertson's, and Wal-mart in town there may no longer be one. I'll need to get out the phone book and look. Since we are surrounded by Cattle ranches you would think someone should be selling locally. With what they are charging at the grocery stores they could make a bundle.
How Far Does Your Food Travel? Activity
1. List food items that will probably be the first to disappear from their local grocery store or would become too expensive to purchase.
2. Two groups at a time will come up to look at food food items.
3. Write down sensory details (ie. smell, taste, touch, sight, sound)
4. Guess the approximate distance each food item has traveled to reach you.
5. Write down the city of origin for each produce.
6. Use the Virtual GPA website to determine the approximate distance each item had to go in order to get to your local market. Our current zip code is 90011.
BLOG ENTRY #5: Thoughts? Did you find this activity surprising? Are you at all concerned with a FOOD SHORTAGE? With limited availability of food paired with rising prices, many people are looking at relocalization-- the idea of bringing sustainability back to the local community. Your challenge is to find local food. Use online research to find out about "locavores," "frankenfood," organic vs. non-organic, and to locate a farmer, farmer's market, and/or community garden. Make sure to add sensory detail and as always, post pictures or videos on your blog. Go find that local produce!
