Blame the outbreaks of food poisoning such as the widespread listeria infections from cantaloupes on the long distance from farm to fork, scientists say. A cantaloupe from Rocky Ford country in Colorado will be handled by a large number of firms before it reaches a grocery store near you.
Each stop presents another opportunity for bacteria to hitch a ride. Each stop also puts more distance between the original producer and the final consumer, making it that much more difficult to track down the source of infection and thus end importation from it.
The problem becomes far more complicated when the fruits and vegetables come from New Zealand, China, Chile or Mexico — as a very large percentage of the “fresh” produce on supermarket counters now does. By the time the origin is nailed down, it’s too late to stop shipments because the harvest is over.
That’s the problem; what’s the solution?
With every passing year, the farms and organizations involved in producing fruits and vegetables and getting them to market become larger — and the distance between farm and fork increases.
The free market does that for us, folks. Market forces bring fruits and vegetables to Iola families at Walmart in marvelous variety at low prices. It is truly mind-boggling to people of a certain age that pineapples, passion fruit, guava, star fruit, papaya, lychee and so on down the list can be bought at most any time of the year in our country — even though many of these delectables are grown thousands of miles away.
Credit market forces for that; as well as a very complex commercial system.
The trade-offs for this miracle are several. One is that bacteria such as listeria can infect a product and put people to bed — or even in the grave — before it’s possible to trace the bad bugs to their source and stop bringing them to stores down the street.
Another is that the economies the market has wrought really make it hard for local producers to compete.
THERE IS an answer: eat local as much as you can. Buy your meat from Bollings. Buy your potatoes at the farmer’s market on Thursday afternoons. Make a deal with a farmer to sell you and friends a steer, a hog or a lamb. Have them butchered and fast-frozen. Grow your own vegetables and herbs. Buy honey from Hawley, walnuts and pecans from the energetic souls who gather, shell, pick and package them.
Try grinding flour from grain, churning butter from whole milk, growing rabbits to make into a German dish that will make your mouth water.
Sure, eating local will limit your diet a bit. No one around here produces bananas, grapefruit or lychees.
But, as we said, there are trade-offs in life. Eating local won’t guarantee an end to food poisoning and sure won’t cut your grocery bill. Fact is, today’s monstrous food production, processing and distribution network got monstrous because it cuts costs to the consumer while presenting them with an absolutely fabulous selection of things to eat at affordable prices. Your great-grandmother couldn’t afford what you put in your grocery cart without a moment’s thought yesterday afternoon, no matter how well-to-do she was.
Turning your back on the system and eating local may cost you more — certainly in time.
But the trend also helps those who sell to eating-local families, makes for fun conversation and probably keeps some tummies healthier. Give it a try.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
