farmers' market image via treehugger.com

Ideally, all foods would be local and organic. But as this article at Change.org points out, there’s a disconnect between organic certification and sustainable practices. Many small farmers may actually use organic, sustainable practices, but not be able to afford the organic certification process, which seems to favor big farms, aka agribusiness. (The article claims that 92% certified organic foods are sold in big chain supermarkets.) This may be why most produce found at local farmers’ markets is typically not certified organic. But you can always talk to the farmers or farm representatives at your farmers’ market to find out how their foods are produced.

The last line of the article is biting: “If you truly want to support farmers that are producing food in environmentally sustainable ways, it’s important to support your local farmers. Buying organic spinach at Whole Foods is not an acceptable alternative.” I think that should be contextualized a bit. If there is a locally-grown option available at your farmers’ market or through your CSA, then by all means, go that route. But sometimes that’s not an option, as is the case for spinach in Austin in the heat of the summer. Of course, there’s a good argument to be made for only eating local and seasonal veggies, fruits, and meats. But sustaining a family on a 100 mile diet is challenging and takes a lot of work. Sometimes, the organic produce at Whole Foods is a lesser evil. Yet still preferable to the conventional produce at conventional big chain store. Of course, the bigger question is how do we move our relationships with food away from lesser evils and towards truly sustainable choices– sustainable not just for the environment and for working families?

I use a recipe from the NY Times, with a French press rather than a jar and sieve. And I try to use a locally-roasted, organic, fair-trade coffee, such as Progress coffee. When I was in Brooklyn, Gorilla was my fave.

Yep, a tall glass of cold-brewed iced coffee with a little simple syrup and half and half can almost make me feel like the baby didn’t wake me up three times during the night.

In the meantime, the Environmental Working Group has put out a list of cancer prevention tips, which all basically entail reducing one’s exposure to potentially toxic chemicals. These preventive measures include filtering water, eating organics, reducing or avoiding meats and animal fats (because of contaminants that accumulate in animal fats), avoiding BPA and PFCs (perfluorochemicals, which are found in things such as Teflon and Scotchguard), and avoiding toxic chemical laden beauty products and sunscreens. The EWG website has extensive information on all of these chemicals and contaminants. And of course, this is not an exhaustive list. They don’t even mention avoiding PVC, found in many common household products and a source of dioxins, nor do they mention pthalates. But their short list is a good start for making priorities for a safer home.

Last week, Mother Jones posted an article about about a thread on the Oil Drum, a forum on energy largely involving petroleum geologists and other folks who work in the energy industry. The MoJo article asks if the BP gusher is unstoppable. Of course, at the heart of this question, is whether the Gulf of Mexico region is on the path to utter and complete ecological– and eventually economic and social– devastation. The claims made in the thread to which the article refers are deeply disturbing. And challenging for the average reader, like me, who knows next to nothing about the science involved in this catastrophe. So it’s hard to know how to respond to an article like this. While some may react with denial, the post likely inspires fear and anxiety in most. I know that’s my first response.

But I also know that fear and anxiety aren’t sustainable. As I’ve argued before, sustainable living works best when we feel we’re intentionally living out our values and commitments to the earth, not when we’re clinging to fears of an apocalypse. Fear and anxiety eventually lead to despondency. And then we may begin to feel that our actions don’t matter. But as the Buddha reminds us, our deeds are our closest companions. We are the beneficiaries of our deeds. Our deeds are the grounds on which we stand.

Over at ZRecs, a blog about safe children’s products that I’ve always found to be very reasonable– cautious, yet not alarmist, they’re arguing that this issue might be blown out of proportion and that it’s playing on the fears and emotions of concerned parents. They question some of the study’s findings. As they point out, lead is everywhere and we’re exposed in many ways all the time. While this finding may be a good impetus to urge farmers and producers to find ways to lower lead levels and engage in more sustainable practices, it ought not cause parents to freak out.

Of course, many pediatricians and nutritionists have long argued that kids really shouldn’t have that much juice anyway. Too much sugar. Fresh fruit is a better source of nutrition. And water should be the drink of choice. (Water contamination is another issue altogether.)

I’m going to agree with ZRecs here. The study should be taken with a grain of salt. The reason we might freak out about this is because many of us don’t really understand where our food comes from and how it is produced. This is the real cause of our anxiety. It’s a good reminder to minimize packaged and processed foods. And that our safest foods are probably local, organically grown foods, especially when we can be involved in the production, such as in our own gardens. We need to be more diligent in looking for ways to reform and reorganize our systems of food production. But we can be driven by a commitment to sustainability and integrity, rather than by fear.