Michael Pollan talks a lot in his book about being on a farm; we usually always go to the store and buy food. There are people who enjoy growing their own spices and vegetables, and then there are those who have grown their own meats, raised chickens for their eggs, raised cows for their milk, and granted I have never lived this lifestyle. So, curiously, is it really healthier to grow your own food? Or is it healthier to purchase your food at the local market that has been processed many times.

Many people say “it is cheaper to grow your own food and healthier” Then there are others who say ‘it is healthier, but more expensive” those questions will get answered. There also has to be something about the way it is grown, maybe there is a secret. I am curious about how the animals being raised for food can make the meats healthier.

The idea is trying to tell people in the end what is healthier, purchasing store bought food or growing your own food?  A lot of times people buy store bought food, meats, vegetables, and spices. All of which may be grown in a garden as well. One of my friends has mentioned growing vegetables such as tomatoes and how much better they taste when she grows them verses buying them in the supermarket. She offered me a taste of them some time back and they were a bit more juicer then the ones I remember picking up from the store. There were a few reasons given by one article on why you should grow your own food.  A few of those reasons were that vegetable gardens are now considered trendy, so for those who want to stay in trend with the latest ups would benefit from growing your own food, it is cheaper. “Food grown by you in your own yard or garden is considered local and there is nothing more local then this, you have control over what goes into your food and what doesn’t as well as knowing this, healthier in a few ways: Gardening reduces stress, you will get more exercise, and you will be eating more fruits and vegetables, you will gain a bigger variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as you being able to teach your children where their food comes from in all actuality versus coming from the store, they will learn how the food is grown.” (Gerber, 2012)

There are a few benefits to homegrown food, such as no bug spray being used, however this means that the gardener would have to worry about keeping the bugs off them. Produce is tastier, healthier, and cheaper when grown in your own backyard. Produce is expensive when buying at the local supermarket. (Johnson, 2010)

Whole foods have a more authentic flavor and are rich in texture.  Whole foods are packed with nutrients like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, petrochemicals and fiber.” As defined by Henderson Processed foods have less nutritional value, processed foods are loaded with saturated fat, sugar and sodium, contain more dangerous additives and chemicals, we don’t cook healthier with processed foods, dubious for health claims I believe is the term used such as the gummy bear package saying “sugar free” when it more than likely is not or has other things in it that make it a non-healthy choice, and last but not least it makes real food seem more boring and therefore less interesting to children. (Henderson, 2011)

According to one journalist Lee Procida New jersey seems to favor the locally grown market.  I chose one of the states versus all of the states because I felt it would be information overload not just for me but for you as well.  Ninety percent of Jersey residents would like to see the locally grown produce used in the schools and they would not care if it would cost more money in the long run. This shows the growing popularity in locally grown food. (Procida, 2011)

Why is processed food bad for us?  Sandra Henderson answers the questions in her article on the dangers of processed foods.  “Processed foods (soft drinks, cheese crackers, cookies, chips, instant meals, etc.) are commonly canned, frozen, dehydrated or hydrogenated for “safety”, a longer shelf life and convenience. Processed foods are neatly packaged in a box, bag, can or jar with a list of ingredients on the label…. Real – or whole – foods (unpolished whole grains, fruits, vegetables, etc.) on the other hand grow in happy places like orchards, gardens and green houses and are unprocessed and unrefined.”

One of my friends grows her own food as I believe I mentioned, on occasion she does, thinking it was hard I don’t think I would have even thought of it. But this website explains how you can get started, how it becomes so much easier to grow your own food. It is not very easy to grow your own food, especially in today’s society.  Although some vegetables take some time to grow the main key to growing your own food is patience. There is a saying that I am not sure who has said it but they say “patience is a virtue.” Just think about it, the vegetables will be ripe and good to eat when they are done growing. Many people do not have the right type of patience or just feel they don’t have the time to stop and tend to a vegetable or spice garden. With the busy schedules, waking up in the morning, getting kids off to school, tending to the pets, housework, going to work/school depending on the situation, they feel so burnt out at the end of the day that the real thoughts are “I just don’t have the time” “it’s easier to buy from your local market.” Or “if I want fresh fruit I can stop and buy some at the farmer’s market, that’s organic, right?” Self-sufficiency guide explains in their article how easy it really is to just take the time to plant your own garden! (Grow, 2009) Homegrown food all seemed to stand on a good point. Everyone appears to agree with it, to thinking that this would be a great idea. Personally, I am not handy with a garden but intend on starting with small things. When I get a green thumb, I will start to grow my own vegetables and spices and see if they will be any better than what we find at the local commissary.

There is a specific group of people who refuse to eat anything that comes from an animal, some have even went as far as not to real fur coats or leather jackets, this group of people most would automatically assume is PETA (People for the ethical treatment of animals) but it is not just them. The group of people is known as Vegan. The vegans have been trying to show us…meat eaters for years why eating meat should be immoral. There is a south park episode that touches base on veal and how the baby cows are treated, chained up and some of these photos are just god awful wrong. Some would go as far as saying beer is healthier for body then milk, which is totally wrong and immoral and should not be advertised where children can see it. The vegans succeed in showing the horrors of how these animals are treated.

Factories, slaughterhouses, these buildings, They do things to our food, to the animals, these animals are treated inhumanely, but how many people walk through the local grocery store and are picking up that pack of chicken right now for tomorrow night’s dinner? But if you could grow that chicken specifically for food and know that nothing got added to the food then the food would end up being healthier.  “The worldwide trend is to replace small family farms with “factory farms” – large warehouses where animals are confined in crowded cages or pens or in restrictive.” As quoted by Vegan Outreach. (Animals, 2003)

Debeaking chickens and cutting off cow’s tails are said to be efficient and for safety but they do, however, cause an immense amount of pain, discomfort, and stress on the animal. This is totally unnecessary. Calves born into the factory farms undergo a specific procedure to have extra teats removed, to be dehorned, and given a milk replacement in place of its mother’s milk. Dairy cows are bred to produce more milk in the United States. This leads to a higher chance for diseases. (Animal Welfare, 2009)

Most all beef found in the grocery store is from cattle fattened up in large grain feeding operations which are known as feedlots. A cattle feedlot is like an urban city with as many as 100,000 animals. This is crowded, filthy, stinking, has open sewers, unpaved roads and choking air. This is for the corn fed beef. Grass fed beef is leaner, contains a balanced ratio of good fats.  (Pasture vs. Feedlot)

Antibiotics are chemicals that inactivate or damage bacteria. Antibiotics are administered to animals and humans to kill or inhibit bacteria that are causing infections (therapeutic and prophylactic antibiotics). Antibiotic resistance is commonly used to describe the situation when the concentrations of antibiotic needed to kill the bacteria cannot be achieved at the site of the infection.

There are different classes of antibiotics and within each class there are a number of different antibiotics, each slightly different. It is therefore important to remember that if another antibiotic type is used to which the bacteria are sensitive then they will be killed. Just because a bacteria is resistant to one class of antibiotic does not mean that it is resistant to all classes of antibiotics. However, some bacteria can be resistant to more than one antibiotic class and these are called multi-resistant. It is these bacteria that cause the most concern.

When resistant bacteria cause infections, the choice of antibiotic that can be used to treat that infection is reduced. If immediately recognized, the doctor or vet can use an alternative antibiotic with little or no risk to the patient. If not recognized until the initial course of antibiotics fails to work, the delay between initial diagnosis and the start of successful treatment can result in unnecessary suffering and a deterioration of the patient’s condition. (Briefing doc, 2010)

There are some advantages to buying from the grocery story. It is convenient; there are a lot of selections to choose from, it gives you a reason to go out, and less work. But there are some disadvantages to buying from the store. The price, you always have to shop for more, every time you use your car it depreciates, so unless you’re within walking distance or walk to the store then this is a major disadvantage. Not to mention the gas price, less activity,

The disadvantages to gardening and growing your own food are that it takes a long time to see the results. You have to prepare the soil, this goes for raising your own meat such as sheep, chicken, or cow. They will need a good place to stay, keep warm or cool, depending on the weather and what season you’re in. You will need to plant, water, and weed. This takes time unless of course you put drips, soaked hoses, and use a timer.  You also need to feed your animals the correct type of food.

Gardening also requires you to harvest and store. If you planted to much for a meals portion then you will need to store it in canning, freezing, drying, or even building a root cellar which can cost a lot of money. Growing food gives you no reason to go out, so it saves you time going to the store, saves a few in the fuel, and saves your car from working a little more.  There is less selection by growing and planting your own food.

There are a few advantages to growing and gardening. Eating fresh, Eating healthy, there are literally no pesticide and it will be packed with nutrients that are very beneficial to the body, not to mention since it is healthier this saves money on medications.

The opportunity to live fully, A gardener will learn a few things about plants and add knowledge, not to mention saving money.  To grow a garden of vegetables does not require a purchase of many items. It requires the sun, water, soil, and access. If your yard does not have a garden or flowerbed that you can grow in, then a few things that can be used are containers, handmade raised bed, etc.

The body will benefit from fresher and more flavorful locally grown food. Local farmers pick their produce when they are ripe and usually deliver them to the market on the same day. On the contrary, non-locally grown produce must be picked early to prevent spoilage, to survive the long distance travel and to allow for ripening times sitting on the shelf.

Picking produce early does not allow the fruit or vegetable to sweeten on the host plant. On the contrary, when you buy locally, the fruit or vegetable may ripen on the plant. Choosing locally grown produce is as close as you can get to hand picking your own produce without having the farm in your own backyard.

Once produce is picked, it stops receiving nutrients from the source plant. In addition, after days of traveling to the market, the amount of nutrients in the fruit or vegetable already begins to diminish. Locally grown produce that has a longer time to mature on the host plant can reap the many more nutrients derived from the plant, hence, a healthier food.

It has also been proven that fresh fruits and vegetables are much more nutritious compared to those that have been transported for a long time. Foods that are not grown locally and have to travel for days or even a week before it reaches the market lose valuable nutrients in the process. For instance, spinach loses 50-90% of its Vitamin C content within 24 hours after it is picked. Fresh peas lose 50% of their nutrients after a week from harvest. In fact, most vegetables and fruits lose a substantial amount of their nutritional value when they travel for days or are not consumed within a day.

References

Animals. (2003). Retrieved from VeganOutreach: http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/animals.html

Animal Welfare. (2009, September). Retrieved from Sustainable Table: http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/animalwelfare/

Grow. (2009). Retrieved from self sufficiency guide: http://www.self-sufficiency-guide.com/Grow.html

Briefing doc. (2010, July). Retrieved from noah.co.uk: http://www.noah.co.uk/issues/briefingdoc/11-abres.htm

Gerber, J. (2012, January 9). seven reasons why you should grow your own food. Retrieved from care2: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/seven-reasons-why-you-should-grow-your-own-food.html

Henderson, S. (2011, may 11). why whole is better than processed food. Retrieved from zisboombah: http://blog.zisboombah.com/2011/05/11/why-whole-is-better-than-processed-food/

Johnson, M. (2010, July 30). Health Benefits of Home grown Produce. Retrieved from Health.usnews.com: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/cancer/articles/2010/07/30/health-benefits-of-home-grown-produce

Pasture vs. Feedlot. (n.d.). Retrieved from Only grass fed: http://onlygrassfed.com/pasture-vs-feedlot.html

Procida, L. (2011, November 14). Poll shows locally grown food is important to NJ. Retrieved from Press of Atlantic City: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/poll-shows-buying-locally-grown-food-is-important-to-new/article_3a15265e-0f21-11e1-ac9a-001cc4c002e0.html