"The Future of (My Daughter's) Food"

Last night, my protective bubble of ignorance burst. At the end of a long day, I popped in my most recent Netflix rental, a documentary film from 2004 called The Future of Food. Here I was, a few scant hours after returning home from a grocery shopping trip, and I was confronted by my own nescience of just what, exactly, I place in my shopping cart each week. Admittedly, I know very little about food. Sure, I can cook, and I know that buying organic is all the rage these days. I thought I even had a handle on what was so great about organic food - no poisonous pesticides touching the crops that would eventually end up on my dinner table. After viewing this film, however, I am horrified by what I now know I didn't know (you follow?). Outraged would be another good word for how I feel.

But before I go on, I'm sure you're all wondering: What does this have to do with Eily? After all, I know that's why you're all here. If you give me a few minutes of your time, I hope to make it clear just how important the topic of this post is for Eily and all future generations of children in the United States. After all, the use of GMOs and the biotech firms who patent them negatively impact not only our health, but also the environment, the economy, and quite possibly the future of food as we know it.

*Climbs up on soapbox*

I just spent the better part of two hours composing a diatribe detailing my outrage at industrialized agriculture in America. I've since scrapped all that work, as I think it started getting long (and rather preachy). Quite honestly, everything I have to say is in the film. So instead, I invite you to visit the website or view the film in its entirety**:

The Future of Food Free Documentary from Deborah Koons Garcia on Vimeo.

Yes, it's long. If you decided not to watch it right now, please consider giving it a chance when you have some time. For those of you who can't stand "hippies" or think that "global warming" is a figment of our imagination, I promise you will still find value in this documentary. Whether or not your eating or purchasing habits change, you will become an educated consumer of food. To expand on the old adage, nothing in this world is more powerful than knowledge.

Now for those of you who are scratching your heads and saying, "Well, duh, Jessa, where have you been?", I freely admit I haven't paid nearly as much attention to what I use to fuel my body as I should have. While I am accustomed to shrugging off nutritional concerns for myself, I realize I'm now responsible for someone else's health. I can't sit idly by and remain ignorant of the potential harm GMOs can have on both my daughter's health and the fate of the world in which she is growing up.

So while it will take some effort and research on my part, I have come to the conclusion that I need to be more cognizant of what I purchase each week. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to get all crazy Level 5 Vegan or anything. I love food far too much to go giving up whole sections of my diet. But instead of looking to save the almighty dollar and time by shopping at the big box stores, I will look to save money and support local farmers by buying fresh, local produce whenever I can. As often as possible, I will purchase foods that are specifically labeled as "GMO free," since simply buying food labeled "organic" or "natural" does not necessarily mean it's harmless. All in all, I know it's probably not feasible or cost effective for us to buy entirely local all the time, but the least I can hope to do is be more aware of what we're eating.

I still have a lot of learning to do, but I hope that even these baby steps will improve our small family's impact on the planet and our health. If anyone has advice, information, book/film recommendations to share on this topic, please feel free to educate me!

**As an additional disclaimer, I realize that documentaries like this tend to be very biased, and I do take it all with the proverbial grain of salt. Still, even just one or two of the film's arguments are enough for me to want to change some of our habits.