I find myself struggling with which produce to buy, organic or as locally grown as possible? I have a hard time buying organic oranges that traveled 1500 miles to get to my table, but I am equally discouraged by the idea of feeding my family vegetables washed in harsh pesticides. Can you please help me in my quest to make the best possible choice? Which is better organic or local?
- Ms. Divided – Reno, NV
Dear Ms. Divided,
I am glad to hear that you are thinking about the nutritional and environmental impacts of our current industrial food system. The ideal would be to buy produce that is both local and organic, but this is not always an option – there are a few ways to cut this conundrum. Local sustainable farming benefits our community, our economy and enhances our environment by enriching the soil, protecting air and water quality and minimizing energy use. I will be forthright with my bias towards the fresh and seasonal option wherever possible, yet understand that sometimes you want a Strawberry in November.
I eat what is grown seasonally in our local region because it tastes better, it is better for my body and the global environment. Produce is the most nutritionally dense within three days of harvest and most of our local farms are turning towards organic methods of growing (some are just too small to be certified, but have been growing food without pesticides for a long time). Some local farms I recommend are Lattin Farms, Hungry Mother, Churchill Butte and Nana Dew. When the farmers markets open, or when you go to a local grocery or restaurant that has locally grown fruit and vegetables – do your body a favor and give it the good stuff!
When you are shopping for produce grown in other parts of the world, there is a list of things you should always buy organic for health reasons. After you finish reading this letter please head straight to the Environmental Working Group’s website www.foodnews.org. The EWG provides consumers with a complete list of produce rated from worst to OK to buy non-organic: peaches are the worst (always buy organic), followed by apples, sweet bell peppers, celery and nectarines. The EWG is a reliable stop for pesticide related information, and they are motivated by the fact that pesticides “are designed to kill living organisms – insects, plants, and fungi that are considered “pests.” Because they are toxic by design, many pesticides pose health risks to people.”
Lastly, industrial food production is entirely dependent on fossil fuels, which, when refined and burned, create greenhouse gases that are significant contributors to climate change. When a tomato travels 1500 miles, and its growth was motivated by what it would look like on the shelf when it arrived at Scolari’s in Nevada – your health was not the priority, remember that! As much as forty percent of the energy used in the food system goes towards the production of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. By adding transportation, processing and packaging to the food system equation, the fossil fuel and energy use of our current food system puts tremendous stress on the environment.
Ultimately, the choice is yours, both organic and local have a positive value and impact. So, if you are motivated to have the smallest impact and gain the best nutrition for you and your family, buy seasonal and local first, and organic outside of our region for most things, but keep it as close to home grown as possible.
Sincerely,
Econista
Greno was created because it’s time. As educators, local experts, business owners, and residents in Northern Nevada collaborating to grow a more sustainable region – we realized that this publication did not exist, and it needs to. We needed a place to be on the same page with each other and speak with the community at-large. We were interested in helping others increase their knowledge about different and more sustainable means of prospering, feeding their families, and powering our cities. Daily, more and more people in Northern Nevada are deciding it’s time for them and their families to live better and more responsibly – to waste less, to reduce consumption or reuse an item – because every little step adds to the momentum of this sustainability movement growing in our region.
Now, we have a tool, a place to turn to for guidance, education, community news, and inspiration as we continue to grow a more sustainable, responsible, and green region.
We all eat! So, we decided to focus Greno #003 primarily on food, where it comes from, and those who are working to provide our community with nutritious edibles. This eating process is a big portion of how we live, and in this issue you will meet new ideas and practices that may lead you to change something about how you eat, one spoon at a time.
When we eat Lay’s Potato Chips, drink a Coca-Cola, or even a Fig Newton there is a chain of resources and people who effectively engineered that possibility for us, and unfortunately these companies may not be thinking about our health, but the dollars we give them in exchange for their brilliant engineering!
In this issue of Greno we are investigating a healthier alternative when consuming edible, drinkable and packaged products. Every choice has a ripple effect that connects each vegetable we eat to a network of people, places, vehicles, chemicals, or not. It’s time to get down and dirty!
Please enjoy this issue. We enjoyed putting it together. Download your free copy of GReNO here, or visit your local sustainable store for your free copy.
We look forward to growing with you,
The Greno Team – Morgan, Christal, Larry, Marc and Jason
by Meghan Collins and Amber Sallaberry
Imagine you are a one-dollar bill, crinkled in the stuffy pocket of a Reno foodie. Your short-term use for your transporter is to purchase tomatoes, who faces a decision: run to a big-box store or shop at the local grocer down the street. This is a choose-your-own-adventure story of a dollar bill spent in one of Reno’s locally owned grocers vs. that spent in a brand-name grocery chain.
OPTION 1: BIG -BOX SPECIAL!
Your shopper walks through the sliding doors to the produce section, where she notices a large pyramid of tomatoes on the left wall. Choosing tomatoes only takes an instant because they are all the same shape, size and faint smell.
As she checks out, your rumpled dollar-bill-self goes in the drawer next to a few others of its kind, and it begins the journey in our global economy. It’s a fact that only 43% of money spent in a non-local business remains in the community (www. the350project.net). Where does the rest go on this hypothetical journey?
You, the weary dollar, enter into a pool of many others of your kind. This pool is divided in many ways. The first destination is to the retailer, taking a large percent of the revenue to cover overhead. Payroll stays local, as do taxes and utilities, but there is a great deal of money that is spent afar. Sources of products, supplies, and equipment are likely to be sourced from out-of-town. These chain stores also have the buying power to purchase distributors in large quantities from far-away industrial zones, contract with overseas merchants, or to the intensive costs of transportation and packaging itself. Past the owner of the franchise, a portion of the monies heads to the corporation’s HQ for research and development on market trends (heard of green washing?), advertisement, and costs of lobbying the federal government.
National and transnational shareholders, depending on the chain, often times see a large portion of year-end profits. This is significant because those monies are not being rolled back into location where money was spent to improve it, where individuals might have a vested interest in improving the community.
OPTION 2: HAND-PICKED BASKET
One alternative path for our tomato dollar begins at the independent grocery store, taking the locally-owned food cooperative as an example. In this case, the breakdown is much simpler. Compared to the $43 above, in the local scenario $68 of $100 returns to the community through payroll, taxes, and other similar expenditures (www.the350project.net).
Shopping takes a bit longer in this case. The owner of the dollar is surprised by the tomato selection at the Co-op. Because this enterprise supports many local Nevada growers, there is a large variety to choose from: slicing tomatoes, vine-ripened tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes and roma tomatoes.
The patron picks out a Cherokee purple heart heirloom and can smell its strong flavor even before cutting into it. The rumpled dollar is handed over to a worker paid a living wage for the region, and the patron’s eye catches a photo.
It depicts the farmer who grew the tomato. Next to this biography is a map of the Co-op’s ‘foodshed’ of the 95-mile radius around Reno, from which it aims to source the majority of its goods.
In the Co-op’s case, many supplies and equipment have been donated by members of the community. Some are recycled, some are handmade, and others come from other locally-owned businesses. The retail floor reflects a mentality of ‘bigger is not always better’, where products are sustainably produced and fresher, and where the space restriction might require you to get to know other ‘neighbors’ shopping alongside you.
Marketing in the case of the Co-op refers to education. Why is it important to buy local? What is the true cost of food, factoring in farm workers’ conditions and environmental aspects such as transportation and production methods? Why do individuals collaborate to form cooperatives in the first place? The list goes on…
The moral of the story is that spending the dollar locally provides more power to the region, as opposed to diluting it at a convenient franchise.
WANT TO KNOW MORE? Visit www.greatbasinfood.coop or come and visit us at 542 Plumas St. Reno, NV 89509 (775) 324-6133
GReNO is expanding its size and distribution – again for the third time!
Our next edition will be jam packed with great articles and information, with even more affordable ad rates. You can download our flyer here – or simply give us a call to discuss how we can help you reach our growing community of sustainable and renewable energy conscious readers. With our expanded distribution through Whole Foods and other eco-outlets, your message will reach a much wider audience for less money. But hurry… advertising reservations close on January 20th!
Ready to download your free copy of GReNO Vol. 002? It’s easy… just click here and enjoy!