Home » Home & Style » Green Home » CELEBRATE REAL FOOD

CELEBRATE REAL FOOD

© Linda Little

What is good food?

Those of you who have tasted good homemade food will know that there is absolutely no substitute. Imagine newly picked vegetables from your own garden, cooked with care ....the smell of freshly baked bread. It appeals to our sense of comfort, reminds us of less rushed days.

Sometimes there are simply not enough hours in the day to do such cooking, or to tend the garden. Instead, we choose the best food we can find. Supermarkets have shelves full of exotic fruit and tempting vegetables, ready-made meals with beautiful illustrations on the packet designed to make the mouth water. It all looks very tempting.

So, how do we truly know what food is good? How can we choose? If we cook ourselves, we usually know what ingredients are in our food. If we grow our own food then we can decide not to put pesticides or fertilisers on our plants. When we do not produce our own food, it is vital to ask questions. Here are a few you might like to think about:

Is it natural or does it have genetically-modified ingredients?

Scientists are very clever. They can now modify food to make it redder, harder, softer or more resistant to insects in the fields. They do this by taking the genes from one thing and putting them in another. This could be as simple as using the gene from one type of corn and putting it in another type or as complicated as putting insect genes in plants.

What is not known is the long term effects of such genetic tinkering. Is it safe for human consumption? We do not know. There is no proof that it is not safe and none that it is. Is it safe for the environment? We don't know that either. There have certainly been some worrying statements in the press. Butterflies being effected. Genetic material being transferred by bees to honey. Weeds becoming resistent to herbicides.

Is it safe or are you swallowing toxic pesticide residues?

We may not know whether genetic-modification of our foodstuffs is safe. However, there is little doubt that swallowing pesticides is harmful. How many times have you hear the old advice to wash fruit before you eat it? Recently, the advice has been to peal fruit before you eat it. You might be shocked at how many times fruit is treated with pesticides. You would certainly be worried if you discovered how dangerous some of these pesticides were.