Guest Feature: Organic Farming

I'm so proud to share a documentary that my neighbor and friend Alexis made, with her colleagues at The Health Journal (subsequent article here). The importance of knowing where and who your food comes from, is so crucial to the sustainability of the worlds future supply. While I am toying with the idea of becoming a vegetarian (more on that later), this film really hit home as to why it is so significant to find farmers you know and can trust, to provide you with the best-quality meals possible, whether that's veggies/fruit, dairy products, eggs or meats. If that means buying organic/free-range/cage-free foods at the grocery store, then that's at least one step in the right direction. To get the opportunity to work with a co-op, a local market or going to a farmers market to purchase your foods, is completely worth it in my opinion because the food that you put into your body is what you thrive on. As humans, we need food to survive, so why not provide the vessel with which we walk this Earth with the best possible nutrients we can? Being cognizant of what you put it can only benefit how you feel, your overall health and the longevity of your life.

Alexis' film comes at a particularly poignant moment in my personal food evolution - recently through my yoga teacher training, I have learned even more about the types of nutrients we need as humans and how certain foods affect your body. Did you know men only need 56 g protein per day and women only 49 g (on average)? Did you know that the ideal amount of meat to consume is only about 5% and that if you include over 20% of your diet as meat, you are raising your cancer risk to an 80-90% of developing some form of cancer? Do you know the difference in nutritional value of raw foods versus cooked foods? And that a good ratio of raw to cooked food is 80/20? These are all areas I'm exploring as a result of this deepening in my food evolution and are topics I imagine will play out on the blog. It was a slap in the face reminder of how important it is to know the quality of what you're putting in your body and to make sure to fill it with appropriate foods.*

We had been so good in Tallahassee between shopping at the farmers market and EarthFare, but have been less steady with our healthier ways since moving to Williamsburg. While getting to the farmers market can be challenging (Saturday mornings are always so busy!), there is at least a local/organic food market called Off the Vine that I plan to explore more in-depth. I've walked in before, checked it out, but never committed. However, I've researched more and have a better understanding of their bi-monthly box subscription now and feel we are in a better place where we can make that sort of commitment. I also am beginning a loooong research project where I am comparing the prices, quality and taste of foods we eat from the local grocery stores we frequent most - Fresh Market, Trader Joe's, Farm Fresh and Harris Teeter. I hope to learn a lot more about pricing and how I personally rank taste/quality of foods, through this experiment. Be on the lookout in the fall to see how that turns out! For now, I just leave you with this beautiful documentary on the importance of local, sustainable farms.

*This information was provided through my training and I am looking for sources that confirm these statistics.