After exploring all the daily open markets in India, Nepal and now Thailand, it has become blatantly obvious to me how much we have lost track of the connection to our agricultural producers and food sources in the USA. The “grocery store” has become the place where our children think fruits and vegetables are harvested and where ground meat grown. While the weekly farmers markets that are happening around the country are great, they pale in comparison to what I’ve seen during my travels.
The countries I have been to have different ideas of what quality of sanitation is when it comes to food safety. Applying some basic common sense about food sanitation you can find clean and safe products with the highest quality wherever you are. Some of the problem is that people aren’t always honest about their products because making money can be the focal point. For instance, when I was in India I had to assume that all the fruits and vegetables had some kind of pesticides on them. So, peeling them and blanching them was something I got into a habit of doing. I know it wasn’t the perfect solution, but it made me feel better. I think I’ve been doing ok in the 4+ months I’ve been traveling because I have not gotten any serious food poisoning (knock on wood).
Another issue I am having is the language barrier. I have gone to all of the major local food markets everywhere I have been. When I have a friend or a guide with me I have a translator, so I can get all my questions answered. If I’m skeptical about something, I make myself pass on it most of the time. Since I’ve been in Thailand I can see how the people value cleanliness and I’ve been able to drop some of the fear I have about food sanitation.
I came across these “curry puff” or “Kra Ree Pub” and they looked so beautiful and I could not get any explanation of what it was. I stared at them drooling while watching them being stuffed and cooked. They looked like these delectable flaky stuffed croissants, which they were. So, I took a picture and sent it to one of my Thai friends and they were able to translate a little bit so I could look stuff up on the internet. These people are “specializing” in one item of production or product and they become masters of making it.
You can find the wholesale markets where the big trucks of produce are being unloaded and items are being repackaged to sell retail at the markets. I witnessed an entire truck load harvest of pineapple and napa cabbage get distributed to smaller retail “stands” around the markets. Everything is done out in the open for the public to see.
One thing that the USA is a step ahead on is their awareness of “agro-ecology”. I’m comparing industrial agriculture with ecological production systems, which include many traditional agricultural practices and treat farms as ecosystems to be managed. Producers using agro-ecosystems depend on built-in biological control mechanisms, organic matter recycling, and rainfall patterns. Production is safeguarded by growing a variety of crops in the same space and by rotating major field crops over time. These techniques increase the availability of nitrogen and other important nutrients. Rotation also serves as insurance against severe weather events and pest outbreaks of insects, weeds, and diseases.
By contrast, industrially produced foods use synthetic inputs to increase crop yields and livestock mass, control pests, enable out of season growth, and increase longevity. In order to better control chemical input levels, mechanization, and the amount of required labor, crops are often grown in a mono-culture – a practice where only one type of crop or agricultural product is produced in the same place over time. While mono-culture can drive down labor costs, the practice imposes additional costs on society via environmental damage and declines in crop yield and available soil nutrients over time Industrial livestock production follows similar patterns. This comes from the “Real Food Standards” that have been developed by major institutions in the USA that I use as a teaching tool in my classroom.
The moral of the story is that we need to bring more connection back to our agricultural and food producers in the USA. The daily markets are a wonderful thing. We think we have progressed to the point of being able to eliminate hunger by feeding the masses, which is only partially true. While we have come a long way, we need to continue to look at where we have come from and not abandon the ways we are all involved with our food systems. The people are just as fabulous as the food that they are producing and we need to be in connection with all!
Leave a Reply