Febuary 2007 Vol. 26. No. 2

Published by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in Eureka, California. HSRC is a non-profit community-based organization offering services for senior citizens, multi-generational families and caregivers.

A new look to Senior News
Medicare Rx extensions
Living with arthritis
Fortuna seniors
Where will you live?
Think About It - food is power

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We are a country with a large number of obese and diabetic citizens. Slick marketing, glitzy packaging and our own laziness have seduced us. We eat food that is not healthy, and we don't question what the corporate food world puts on our plates.

We need to understand that food is power, and the best way to take action is to eat healthy, fresh, local, organic foods.

We have seen many changes in our diets during the last 60 years. We have more packaging with additives to keep a longer shelf life. We have genetically modified organisms that alter the genes of food. Radiation is now used to preserve not only milk but also fruits and vegetables. Who wants a Frankenstein bowl of apples that will sit in your fruit bowl for months looking fresh but have no taste? Equally appalling are the toxic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers that are used to grow conventional food. And to add insult to injury, these items are made from petroleum products.

Last year I came across a comparison of organic fruits and vegetables with the conventionally grown. I wasn't surprised to find out that organic fruits and vegetables have much more nutritive value, most more than 60 percent more nutrition than the non-organic.

Most of us are concerned with the cost of food and many of us will opt for non-organic because the price may be lower. In the long run, organic foods are less expensive. There are hidden costs in conventionally grown foods.

A big cost is transportation. Most people in this country eat food that travels more than 1,500 miles. There are the hidden manufacturing and transportation costs of the pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, not to mention packaging.

In the future we will be faced with critical changes in our climate due to the increase of man-made carbon in our environment. Where will our food come from? It behooves us to pay attention and to plan.

At this time Humboldt County produces only eight percent of its food. Before the 1930s we were one of the biggest providers of fresh food to the Bay Area. It is time to take back the power for ourselves and keep the food wealth and health here in our own back yards.

What can we do to make a positive change in our health and the health of our environment? Dig up your lawn and put in a family garden; get together with friends and start a community garden; buy from local, organic farmers; support markets and restaurants that sell local, organic foods; and encourage young people to go into farming.

The Eureka Co-op will hold market tours to teach people how to read nutritional labels. This will be especially helpful for diabetics. They will also hold cooking classes the last Saturday in February and March. For dates, times and more information contact Beth at 443-4563, ext. 46.

Suzanne Simpson is an Arcata artist who farms a three-quarter-acre garden in Willow Creek. She is co-founder of the Humboldt County Peak Oil Group.