Making the right food choices is important

What's on your plate and how did it get there? Everyday we make decisions on what and where we eat. Choices are made based on what we know, and when we know more, most of us make better choices. So how did your food get to your fork?

It is estimated that the average American meal travels about 1,500 miles to get from farm to plate. That increases the amount of carbon dioxide emissions. In order to make long trips, much of our produce is shipped unripe and gassedupon delivery in order to ripen.

Other produce is processed in factories and treatedwith pesticides and irradiation in order to maintain a stable transport and maintain volume. Not to mention the presence of artificial hormones, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and large-scale outbreaks of potentially deadly e.coli that are all coupled with this industrial form of food production. It can be disheartening to learn about the norm of our food industry. However, in doing so you can quickly learn enough to make the safest and wisest food choices for you and your family.

Eating sustainable refers to eating foods that are healthy for the consumers, agriculture and the environment. It is humane for the workers, shows respect to the animals, fair wages for farmers and enhances rural communities. Sustainable eating doesn't refer to pricey organics or health food stores, though many of them support this lifestyle. Foods with less packaging, less travel time and concern for all parties involved in getting your food to you are what constitutes sustainable foods.

As consumers, we need to change the "norms" and make better decisions for our future, our children. Practice it together! It is important for us to show our children how to eat sustainable because the future is uncertain. Children already play a key role in becoming more sustainable by encouraging changes in behavior of those around them, whether in terms of recycling, saving energy, growing vegetables and healthy eating. Guiding them to make the right food choices will ultimately benefit generations to come.

Help make sustainable food a popular choice. Visit Eatwellguide.org to search listings of restaurants, farmers markets and co-ops near you that support this growing trend. Ask your local grocer where they buy from and express your interest in consuming locally grown products. We must work together to solve it.

Kelli O'Neill

Potsdam