How Far Will Your Food Travel This Thanksgiving

by Rachel Albert-Matesz

“When far-flung families get together for Thanksgiving dinners next week, much of their food will have logged more miles than their relatives and friends around the table,” finds a new study by the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental and social policy research organization based in Washington, D.C.. “In the United States, food now travels between 1,500 and 2,500 miles from farm to table, as much as 25 percent farther than two decades ago,” say experts at the World Watch Institute.

"We are spending far more energy to get food to the table than the energy we get from eating the food. A head of lettuce grown in the Salinas Valley of California and shipped nearly 3,000 miles to Washington, D.C., requires about 36 times as much fossil fuel energy in transport as it provides in food energy when it arrives," says Worldwatch Research Associate Brian Halweil, author of Home Grown: The Case for Local Food in a Global Market.

Our reliance on food picked long ago and far away undermines local economies, creates numerous opportunities for contamination, and increases fuel use, contributing to global warming. It also reduces the nutritional value of our food. Fresh vegetables and fruits can lose 50 percent of their carotene (pro-vitamin A) content and 60 percent of their vitamin C within three days of being harvested. A week after harvest, these nutrients can be completely lost. Rarely is fresh produce in the consumers’ mouths within a day of harvest when the nutritional value is greatest (assuming the produce was allowed to ripen fully).

The solution is to base your holiday meal and the other 1094 meals a year on increasing amounts of locally grown food. According to some surveys, a typical meal comprised of locally grown ingredients may require four to 17 times less petroleum to transport than the same meal bought from conventional food chains.

Picture a bull’s-eye; we are in the middle. The next circle out consists of the rest of our state. The next represents neighboring states, our region, and then our bioregion. What you want to do is buy more food from the inner circles, the ones closer to home. If you live in Arizona that means you’d make Arizona grown apples your first choice, California and Washington apples your second choice, apples from the Midwest your third choice, and those from the East coast your fourth choice. You would forego apples from New Zealand. This is most important for the most perishable products are those you use in the largest amounts (vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, seafood, and dairy products vs. dried herbs and spices). It also means you would eat more apples and fewer bananas if you live in the U.S.

While you may not be able to do this for everything, you can make a positive impact on your local and national economy, worldwide ecology, and your health by increasing the amount of locally grown food you buy and consume now and throughout the year. Don’t fret if you still buy some out of season, out of region foods; I do. In some cases your budget or time constraints may limit your options. Think of it as a process––not an all or nothing proposition. Every local purchase counts as progress. Start by frequenting your local farmers’ markets. You may be surprised at how many foods Arizona farmers’ grow. Check the origin labels in stores and choose more Arizona and U.S. grown food.

Let’s give thanks and celebrate our blessings by supporting farmers from as close to home as possible and by making our meals plant-based, produce dominated, and made from unrefined whole foods free of artificial ingredients. To learn more about how to cook this way, sign up for Whole Foods Cuisine I and Wholefoods Cuisine II through Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.

For locations and hours of operation of farmers’ markets close to your home check out:
Farmers' markets by state http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm

Find farms, farmers' markets & CSAs in your area
http://www.foodroutes.org

10 Reasons to buy locally grown food
http://www.asapconnections.org/local.htm

What’s on your menu for Thanksgiving?
Try these healthy recipes from Chef Rachel Albert-Matesz, The Healthy Cooking Coach and her award-winning book, The Garden Of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook and her newest release, The Ice Dream Cookbook: Dairy-Free Ice Cream Alternatives with Gluten-Free Cookies, Compotes and Sauces, both available in the SWIHA bookstore. You’ll find additional recipes and menus in her books.

Check our Rachel’s blog for more recipes and ideas:
http://www.TheHealthyCookingCoach.com

Biography
Rachel has been a natural foods chef, cooking instructor, freelance food and health writer, cooking coach, and speaker for more than 20 years. She has led more than 800 cooking classes in five states, and published more than 225 articles in national magazines and regional papers.

Rachel developed recipes for two books by best-selling author Barry Sears. She co-authored, The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet and Cookbook (Planetary Press, 2004) and wrote The Ice Dream Cookbook: Dairy-Free Ice Cream Alternatives with Gluten-Free Cookies, Compotes & Sauces (Planetary Press, fall 2008). She lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and teaches natural foods cooking for  Southwest Institute of Healing Arts and in kitchen shops, private homes, schools, and corporations. She also leads cooking parties, dinner parties, and healthy shopping tours, coaches clients in their kitchens, speaks to groups about healthy eating, and regularly appears on Channel 3's show, Your Life A to Z, in Phoenix.

Rachel is dedicated to inspiring healthy choices and demonstrating that great taste and good nutrition can go hand in hand. Her mission is to awaken your inner chef and enhance your appreciation for the nourishing power of natural foods. If you don’t like “healthy” food, you haven’t tried Rachel’s recipes.