Frankie James had dinner with a stranger, and the results were more than awesome.
food
Six Recommendations for Sustainable Food in 2009
People are becoming more aware about how to live a sustainable life, and now we know of at least six ways to make our food more sustainable. The suggestions range from the everyday to the larger issues to support the sustainable food movement.
5. Continue to support local gardening / farming efforts. We need to keep our focus on urban gardening and small-scale farming. It has been said before, but the answers to our global food problems are not more genetic modification and massive globalization, but rather a return to small and simple. We need to bring more people into direct contact with food production, because with contact comes understanding.
6. Cement the relationship between Eco, Green and Healthy. It is undeniable that what is good for our personal health is good for the planet, and vice versa. With the dawn of the new year, we need to cement this relationship with both words and action. I believe that this is one of the ways that the sustainable food movement can reach a larger audience, and allow those participating on the fringes of the movement to go deeper into eco-eating through concerns about health. This is already one of the largest reasons people give when they choose to buy organic milk, for example, but it can be so much more than that. We need to expand the dialogue to include nutritionists, doctors, and other health practitioners as we move forward.
Organic Farming Uses Less Water
In case you needed yet another reason to buy organic food it has come to light that organic farming uses less water than factory/industrial farming.
A study released by Cornell University Professor David Pimentel in 2005 reported that organic farming produces the same corn and soybean yields as conventional farming and uses 30 percent less energy and less water. Moreover, because organic farming systems do not use pesticides, they also yield healthier produce and do not contribute to groundwater pollution.
In addition to its conservation of water, organic farming has also been praised for the economic opportunities it creates for farmers in developing countries. Those farmers have not only found an international market for their organic products, but in draught-ridden India, organic rice farmers have found that using less water is not only a necessity, but is also financially practical. Indian rice farmers cited in a 2007 World Wildlife Foundation study claimed that the system of rice intensification (SRI) helped them yield more crop with less water.
Grapes Help Your Heart
The very thing that can ferment to make delicious fluids can help your heart fresh from the vine! That’s right, grapes are good for your heart.
The researchers studied the effect of regular table grapes (a blend of green, red, and black grapes) that were mixed into the rat diet in a powdered form, as part of either a high- or low-salt diet. They performed many comparisons between the rats consuming the test diet and the control rats receiving no grape powder — including some that received a mild dose of a common blood-pressure drug. All the rats were from a research breed that develops high blood pressure when fed a salty diet.
In all, after 18 weeks, the rats that received the grape-enriched diet powder had lower blood pressure, better heart function, reduced inflammation throughout their bodies, and fewer signs of heart muscle damage than the rats that ate the same salty diet but didn’t receive grapes. The rats that received the blood-pressure medicine, hydrazine, along with a salty diet also had lower blood pressure, but their hearts were not protected from damage as they were in the grape-fed group.
Grow Your Own Food in a Small Space
A grow box is a small container that can be used to create a large quantity of food, the people over at Eat Drink Better have guides to create your own grow box.
With a small amount of space, a nominal investment in supplies, and a little bit of sunlight, you too can have delicious, fresh produce at your fingertips in the middle of the city, the country, or even (gasp!) the ‘burbs! Oh, and you’re going to be pulling CO2 out of the air and fixing it in a very delicious form.
If you want to affect global climate change, why not do it through fresh, homegrown food? Oh, and if you live in USDA plant hardiness zones that have double digits, you might be able to do this until November or later. Lucky!