About me
A picture taking, weirdo nomster that likes to.. eat all the things...
Do You Know Where Your Noms Comes From?
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As an avid food lover, this particular topic has been of interest to me for quite some time now. We live in a culture where fast food, preservatives, frozen entrees and anything quick, in a jar or out of can is more than acceptable as long as it tastes ok. I've always questioned though what the impact of our food choices are, on the people who prepare them, on our health and even our environment. For years I was campaigning against and boycotting KFC because of the conditions they put the chickens in and the junk they inject like hormones and antibiotics.
Perhaps out of fear, consciousness or a gained knowledge, I've become much more aware of what I cook at home and what type of groceries I buy, but even I must admit that sometimes the allure of a discounted price tag is pretty hard to resist. As an example eggs, I will only purchase free range eggs which can run from $2.79 (not that bad) to $4.60 (pretty pricey), whereas I've found a 12 pack of regular eggs for as low as $1.39 to $2.00. When you consider that it's only a two dollar difference the number isn't as jarring, but it's the collective difference of all your groceries that make the biggest difference. I've bought meats from the Asian market because for some reason it's a lot less expensive than places like Henry's or Whole Foods, that support local and state to buy free range or organic.
The word organic is such a fickle one because some state that it's just a term to justify higher prices and that all markets claiming they sell organic are just liars. The thing is that not too long ago in the near last century, most farming was organic. The introduction of pesticides, hormones, anti-biotics and other food mods were all created to cater to a growing population and the need to farm bigger and faster. With growing cancer rates and adverse health effects, people are finally starting to pay attention at what goes into what we consume.
For years, water bottles weren't required to be BPA free. There have been a multitude of instances in human food, dog food where the ingredients were causing health problems.
Planet Green has a new show called "Blood Sweat and...." where they look into various aspects of consumerism like food, clothing and etc and take everyday consumers and put them in the factories in which their goods are made. Although I found that the show kept the imagery and subject matter very censored, it was quite informative. The recent episode was about "Food", specifically Tuna, Rice and Chicken and the various places in Asia that export to the rest of the world. They worked within the factories, fished with the fisherman and slept on the cramped boats, saw how the chickens were slaughtered and even witness how little these people got paid.
In Thailand, when they interviewed women in the red light district, most of them said that they were forced to choose prostitution because it pays better than any other available job and most of them do it to support families. Our economic structure thrives on the cheap labor overseas, it's one of the reasons why some of or goods are so inexpensive. Though I understand on some level there's something mutually beneficial being provided, one side definitely has the better deal, while the other is being provided with a job but making $35 a month, because we don't want to pay more for our shoes, canned goods or poultry.
We all want to get the best value, or have things quick but the next time you buy that burger, canned food, replica purse and etc just think for a moment what you're consuming, who it affects, where it comes from and what your money is really supporting.
Perhaps out of fear, consciousness or a gained knowledge, I've become much more aware of what I cook at home and what type of groceries I buy, but even I must admit that sometimes the allure of a discounted price tag is pretty hard to resist. As an example eggs, I will only purchase free range eggs which can run from $2.79 (not that bad) to $4.60 (pretty pricey), whereas I've found a 12 pack of regular eggs for as low as $1.39 to $2.00. When you consider that it's only a two dollar difference the number isn't as jarring, but it's the collective difference of all your groceries that make the biggest difference. I've bought meats from the Asian market because for some reason it's a lot less expensive than places like Henry's or Whole Foods, that support local and state to buy free range or organic.
The word organic is such a fickle one because some state that it's just a term to justify higher prices and that all markets claiming they sell organic are just liars. The thing is that not too long ago in the near last century, most farming was organic. The introduction of pesticides, hormones, anti-biotics and other food mods were all created to cater to a growing population and the need to farm bigger and faster. With growing cancer rates and adverse health effects, people are finally starting to pay attention at what goes into what we consume.
For years, water bottles weren't required to be BPA free. There have been a multitude of instances in human food, dog food where the ingredients were causing health problems.
Planet Green has a new show called "Blood Sweat and...." where they look into various aspects of consumerism like food, clothing and etc and take everyday consumers and put them in the factories in which their goods are made. Although I found that the show kept the imagery and subject matter very censored, it was quite informative. The recent episode was about "Food", specifically Tuna, Rice and Chicken and the various places in Asia that export to the rest of the world. They worked within the factories, fished with the fisherman and slept on the cramped boats, saw how the chickens were slaughtered and even witness how little these people got paid.
We all want to get the best value, or have things quick but the next time you buy that burger, canned food, replica purse and etc just think for a moment what you're consuming, who it affects, where it comes from and what your money is really supporting.
\ Via "on the go"
