Food Choices

Yesterday (August 31st)  I was watching the show the DR'S.  The topic was about our nations food and what is REALLY in it.  Even though I have read some of these things before, heard about it, and seen it on other shows, for some reason this show really hit home. 

How did we get so far away from growing, producing , and eating whole natural foods?  I think it has to do with less patience and being used to having what you want - now.   When I was a little girl, I remember when the grocer would get in peaches.  First it would be annouced that peaches would be arriving on a certain date.  If you were lucky to have heard this, you could reserve the number of boxes you wanted. ( notice I didn't say pounds).  Then you would wait for the truck to come to town.  It was always a big day when you would go to get your peaches. 

You would pick up your boxes, and hurry home.  Each peach was wrapped in a tissue paper to prevent brusing.  I wonder who had that job,  maybe it was the peach elf.  Anyhow, there would be 2 layers of peaches, yummy yummy peaches. My sister and I would take off the tissue and smell each one.  Oh were they beautiful.  Then we got to eat one!  yep just one.  Usually the juice would drip down your chin, but you didn't mind.  It was the best day. 
For dinner that night of course we had PEACHES.  Peaches with cream.  YUM no sugar- that would ruin it.  just peaches and cream. 
Each day we got a peach,  then mom would make peach pie, peach cobbler and we would can peaches for the winter. 

Well, now that I have degressed with my peaches, back to my thoughts about food today.   You see my peach story is STILL vivid in my mind.  We had to wait for them to be IN SEASON, got them only 1x a year and that was it. Today, the fruit is picked early, sprayed with something to help it travel- no more tissue paper, and sits in coolers for who knows how long.   When I do get boxes of peaches from the market now,  I need to let them ripen and be quick for when they do, as they will spoil for they have been picked a while.

The way we process our food, get it to market really should be alarming to all of us. I will say I do love getting items at the store when not in season for the special recipe etc, but at what cost?   I love those crunchy chips, cool whip on my cobblers, but what is REALLY in there?

Being blessed living in an area with organic farms/orchards is wonderful.  I have also enjoyed the revisiting of the art of preserving foods.  This way you know what is in each and every jar.  But I also know that there are many who don't know how to preserve, have time, or the energy to do so.  Therefore our markets must provide us with the ingredients we need.  As this new movement is going on, I hope that our food industry, rethinks how they produce our foods.  We deserve better than what they are providing for us.