By Tim Hauber
HAVE you ever looked at the food on your plate and wondered who grew it and where it came from? Do you trust the methods used by the producer before it reached your plate? Has this food been treated with your best interest in mind from the field all the way to your plate?
When we consider that the food we eat is one of the largest factors in determining our health, I think it would make good sense to ask these questions.
The act of eating food is a very intimate act. Every day we are consuming substances that ultimately serve as the building blocks for our bodies. We are what we eat - literally! Each of us has a responsibility to ensure that the food and substances we put into our mouths are both safe and nutritious. The good news is that no matter where you are on the journey of life, it is never too late to change how you relate to food and take action to have more control over the food you consume.
One major factor that has contributed to losing touch with our food is the globalization of our food system. We now ship food from all over the world and it is quite normal to be eating food that was grown in countries on completely different continents at any given meal. The days of small local farms are gone and it is almost impossible to know the person who has grown your food, and if you can trust the process and product. The Local Food Movement is one step in the right direction to remedy this problem.
There are many reasons why it makes sense to grow your own food and support our local Bahamian farmers and here are just a few.
Growing your own food gives you the ultimate control.
The best way to control the quality of your food is to grow it yourself. Growing all of your food is overwhelming and unlikely.
By starting with growing one or two items that you eat regularly you will soon experience the many benefits and gifts of growing your own food. Starting a small home garden, or joining a community garden, will give valuable exercise and time in nature which is a reward in and of itself.
As you grow your crops you can ensure that you are only using inputs, such as fertilisers that are organic, non-toxic and safe for your body and the environment.
Once you harvest and enjoy the final product you will not only relish a delicious and healthful meal, but you will experience the rewarding feeling of accomplishment and independence that comes from growing your own food. It feels good to take back some control and to exercise your creativity in this one small domain of your life.
You can meet your local Bahamian farmer
If you are buying food grown by Bahamian farmers you can visit the farm, meet the farmer, and find out how your food is being produced. Most farmers are willing to share information about the techniques they are using to produce their crops. Being grown locally does not necessarily mean that it is organic or that sustainable practices are being used, so it is a good idea to ask the farmer about their philosophy and farming practices.
Farmers Markets are great opportunities to meet many local farmers in one location. Whenever possible, shop at your local Farmers Market!
Buying local is better for the environment
Think of the many miles that lettuce has to travel to get from California to a shop in Nassau or Eleuthera. This journey involves thousands of miles of travel in trucks and boats that are all burning fuel to keep the lettuce cool as it travels. If we are growing lettuce locally, we will save many gallons of fuel used to transport these items from their source.
Local produce tastes better
In order for fruits and vegetables to be harvested and shipped around the world they are typically picked well before they are ripe so they can handle the long travel time. By picking fruit before it is ripe we lose much of the potential flavour. Think of the experience of eating a local mango in July, compared to a store-bought, imported mango in November. After eating locally grown bananas, I find it painful to buy imported bananas that have a fraction of the flavour. The same holds true for pineapples, tomatoes and other locally grown produce.
Local produce is often more nutritious
As soon as fruits and vegetables are picked, many of the vitamins and nutrients begin to break down. University of California studies show that fruits and vegetables will lose 10-80% of some vitamins within days of harvesting. The vegetables we purchase in local shops that were grown in distant places like California might look nice but they have inevitably lost a significant amount of vitamins during their long trip to The Bahamas. If we can consume our produce within days of harvesting, assuming that they are refrigerated properly by the producer, we will have a more nutritious product to consume.
There is much more diversity possible from local produce
Small local farms typically offer a much wider diversity of produce than can be purchased from the shops. When you visit the Farmers Market you will see numerous types of greens and fruit that may never be found on the grocery store shelves. Think of the wide variety of tropical fruit that we enjoy here in the summertime and imagine if some of these amazing fruits could be purchased on a regular basis from the shops! On the CTI farm here in Rock Sound we are not only growing the typical orange carrots, but also white, yellow, purple and red varieties! These very old varieties are simply not marketed in the grocery stores because mainstream industrial agriculture focuses only on orange carrots.
Supporting local farmers is better for our economy
Every dollar that we spend at home buying produce from a local producer keeps money moving within our own economy. Imagine if even a fraction of the almost billion dollars we spend on importing food was spent locally and was kept circulating within our own economy!
The next time you sit down to enjoy a meal, consider the source of each dish. Can you make a few small adjustments to regain some control of what will become the very body you need to sustain your life, health and physical strength in the years ahead? Try growing some of your own food. Visit a Farmer’s Market, get to know the producers and choose one whose practices support your eating philosophy and vision of health. The benefits are clear, join the local food revolution!
• Tim Hauber is the farm and cooling house operations officer at CTI & OEF. Established in 2012, the One Eleuthera Foundation (OEF) is a non-profit organisation located in Rock Sound, Eleuthera. For more information, visit www.oneeleuthera.org or email info@oneeleuthera. org. The Centre for Training and Innovation (CTI) is the first and only postsecondary, non-profit education and training institution and social enterprise on Eleuthera. CTI operates a student training campus in Rock Sound, Eleuthera, with a 16-room training hotel, restaurant and farm. For more information about CTI’s programmes email: info@oneeleuthera.org.