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Where Does Your Food Come From? by thebbqguy on 16 Nov, 2012 18:56
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I spent 5 minutes at the local grocery store this afternoon conducting an informal survey. This survey was meant to validate an article I read on Huffington Post while back.
A short quiz (answers below) --
1. Where does salmon come from?
2. Where do artichoke hearts come from?
3. Water chestnuts?
4. Cactus?
5. What about mushrooms?
6. Mayonaise?
Answers:
1. Thailand or Chili, 2. Peru, 3. China, 4. Mexico, 5. Indonesia, 6. Mexico
Granted these represent only a few brand names and two aisles in the entire 24 aisle store, but I purposely chose brand names to validate the point that a heck of a lot of food you and I eat every day is imported from who know's where. I suspect the scope of the problem would be magnified if I checked more foods and more aisles. This is a MAJOR grocery store chain folks. How does this make you feel? -
#1 by D.A.L.U.I. on 16 Nov, 2012 19:35
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That works only if you're not careful to purchase locally as a preference. Perhaps we're odd in Louisiana--particularly considering who we choose for our political leadership--but I can assure you without question all of the food stuffs you specify are primarily local except artichoke hearts--we usually make those from the fresh in the store, and water chestnuts--usually not in Creole or Cajun cooking. We can usually get fresh mushrooms, cactus and salmon from the US. Mayonaise, prefer homemade with virgin olive oil, and a touch of imported French Dijon Mustard--but that may be a bit over the top for the rest of the US.
What this makes me feel like, is--dispite all the problems--I am glad to live in an area that appreciates and loves good and wholesome food preferably locally grown. It also validates the feeling that there is very little "bad food" but there is a whole lot of piss poor preparation and cooking. -
#2 by MMArob on 16 Nov, 2012 20:58
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I'm not from the US, and currently I'm not even in my birth country, so I'm kind of an export myself.
BUT I try to search for local food wherever I am at the moment.
This can be done best at food markets where local farmers bring their stuff.
Obviously the choices are limited compared to big supermarket chains, and because I eat a lot of high quality food and protein (and if I don't have time that day to go to the market) I always go to a big supermarket as well without caring much where what came from as long as it's high quality unprocessed food.
To answer your question:
It's a strange feeling to have a fridge full of stuff from 10 different countries.
If I can I shop locally, even organic if it isn't too steep, but I wouldn't trade variety and quality against location...so if a product that I really like to eat isn't available locally I buy it somewhere else even if it comes from Spain or some other country.
Rob -
#3 by Mike on 16 Nov, 2012 23:57
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We make our own mayo here. Our eggs and chicken come from our own flock. We butcher goats and cattle for big meat, the pork comes from a neighbor down the road. The milk/cream comes from the dairy I worked for as a kid and we get many of our cheese from a local farmer. Most of the produce we eat comes from our large garden, we can/freeze/dry much of it and store some in the cellar. An example are the apple chips I eat for snacks almost every day. I picked the apples from our trees and spent lots of time drying them in the food dehydrator. Which, we also make our own jerky from our own animals as well.
I already know that some of the fast food places I eat at for lunch use Brazilian beef (something that I, as a farmer am against). That brings up another point. The feed we use for our stock comes from Washington farms. All the poultry and goat feed is milled about an hour away using only Washington grown products. The hay comes from our land to feed the goats/cattle as well. I know the clementines I get are from somewhere other than the US but that is something I deal with. There are some countries that I don't mind buying products from based on their agricultural and human rights.
One thing that gets me is when I go to a store and see Chilean apples right next to Washington grown apples, burns me up inside!
I work for a local company and we make craft items to sell locally so I am a large supporter of the "Buy local" movement. By purchasing food from local farmers, it keeps the money close to home. I try not to go to some of the large corporate chains when possible but there are times that I can't find things at a local business -
#4 by Quetzalcoatl on 17 Nov, 2012 10:46
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Well, I work at a grocery store and I can tell you that maybe only 10% of the stuff is made/grown in the US.
It's sad, but food from other contries like Chile and Indonesia can be had and sold for cheaper, and what brings customers in the door better than anything else? Low prices. -
#5 by Slynito on 19 Nov, 2012 07:08
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I buy locally as much as possible and go to farmers markets weekly. I'm fortunate to live in a small farm agricultural area. I remember a few months ago feeling very guilty when I noticed the beautiful pears I just had have were from Chile...4,000 mile pears.
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#6 by tomgallagher on 19 Nov, 2012 07:20
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We get a lot of fruit from Chile in the winter. I get a lot of grapes from there during the winter.
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#7 by schro on 19 Nov, 2012 09:37
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Living in California, we get a lot of our food locally. Most of our produce, beef, chicken and seafood all come from in-state.
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#8 by D.A.L.U.I. on 19 Nov, 2012 09:54
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Living in California, we get a lot of our food locally. Most of our produce, beef, chicken and seafood all come from in-state.
Yup, and the best thing about California, in the northern part anyway, is the availability of really good produce like really fresh artichokes and, of course, garlic from Gilroy
.
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#9 by schro on 19 Nov, 2012 10:09
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Living in California, we get a lot of our food locally. Most of our produce, beef, chicken and seafood all come from in-state.
Yup, and the best thing about California, in the northern part anyway, is the availability of really good produce like really fresh artichokes and, of course, garlic from Gilroy.
I failed to mention the wine...shame on me! -
#10 by Laser Man on 19 Nov, 2012 10:32
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Schro,
How could you have forgotten California wines!?!? -
#11 by Hingatao on 19 Nov, 2012 11:08
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Living in California, we get a lot of our food locally. Most of our produce, beef, chicken and seafood all come from in-state.
Yup, and the best thing about California, in the northern part anyway, is the availability of really good produce like really fresh artichokes and, of course, garlic from Gilroy.
And some of the best breads and cheeses around are made in the Bay Area. When I'm home on vacation, love going to the Saturday farmers' market at the ferry building in San Francisco. -
#12 by Hingatao on 19 Nov, 2012 11:10
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Living in California, we get a lot of our food locally. Most of our produce, beef, chicken and seafood all come from in-state.
Yup, and the best thing about California, in the northern part anyway, is the availability of really good produce like really fresh artichokes and, of course, garlic from Gilroy.
I failed to mention the wine...shame on me!
Shame on you is right!! -
#13 by tomgallagher on 19 Nov, 2012 11:34
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Is Alioto's down on the wharf still open.
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#14 by Sir Harry on 19 Nov, 2012 12:22
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Living in California, we get a lot of our food locally. Most of our produce, beef, chicken and seafood all come from in-state.
Yup, and the best thing about California, in the northern part anyway, is the availability of really good produce like really fresh artichokes and, of course, garlic from Gilroy.
I failed to mention the wine...shame on me!
As they would say on "Monday Night Football" C'mon Man!