Decisions, decisions
April 30th, 2006 Caroline
I’ve always been a pretty careful reader of food labels, but the Michael Pollan talk I went to the other night has renewed my interest in trying to make the food purchases I make good choices for the environment, too. Organic trumps factory-farmed, in most circumstances, and local (because it requires less fossil fuel to get it from the farm to my kitchen) usually trumps organic. OK.
So there I was at Trader Joe’s, trying to buy milk. Do I buy the organic milk in paper cartons that I can compost, or the locally produced organic milk in plastic jugs that I can recycle? I went with local, even though I don’t much like the plastic jugs.
Then on to peanut butter. Here the choice is between organic in plastic containers or salt-free, non-organic in glass. I’m sure we could all eat less salt, so I went with salt-free.
Flour? Trader Joe’s carries King Arthur brand flours, which are neither organic nor local (the company is based in Vermont). But, it’s a worker-owned company with an excellent product, so into the cart it goes.
Finally, I need eggs. I can get organic, cage-free, brown, vegetarian diet, and omega-3 fortified — but not all in the same carton. Does my vegetarian family need to eat vegetarian eggs? What are the chickens eating that’s not vegetarian? I don’t like to imagine. And if I spring for omega-3 fortified, do we really get much health benefit? I’m dubious, grab a carton, and flee.
I’m not really complaining. I’m lucky to live in a city where I have so many choices for food and even where to buy it. I could skip the drive to Trader Joe’s entirely and walk to the local, family-owned grocery store. Or ride public transit to the farmer’s market. Still, the decision-making gets exhausting sometimes!
Entry Filed under: General