It’s not just what you eat

Food is not just about what we eat. It’s not just about flavor and nutrition. It’s also about our culture, land use and the environment. There are also other aspects such as economy and the market, but those are not immediately of interest for me, only secondarily. When you buy food,ask yourself the following questions:

1. does it taste good? does it work with my dinner plans? do other family members/eaters like it?
2. is it healthy? does it have special properties? vitamins? enzymes? fiber?
3. where does it come from (how many miles has it ‘driven’ to get here)?
4. is it affordable? worth the price?
5. how was it grown? pesticides? water usage? what kind of fertilizer was used?
6. have the people involved in bringing this food to me been treated humanely and received a living wage?
7. has this food been processed? how much has it changed from it’s original form?
8. is it packaged? and if so, is the packaging used sustainable?
9. if you’re buying anything other than a simple ingredient, but e.g. a sauce or ready made meal, read the ingredients and satisfy yourself of the facility/company policies regarding food preparation
10. is any part of this food genetically engineered?
11. could I make/grow this food myself? would it be better?

Of course, there are other questions and some of these questions may not be important to you. But we often forget to consider packaging or pesticide use, when we are at the grocery store. I believe it is important to do only what you’re comfortable with, going overboard on health, or sustainability all of a sudden, will only increase your risk to go back on it.