Fresh Picked and Natural — Wink, Wink!

By Jake Jakubuwski

 A Face Book friend replied to a post that I had put on the site and although I’m not anywhere near in her league when it comes to eating right, exercising and working to be hearty and hale  — and enthusiastic in her vigorous personal regimens; I applaud her fervor and dedication. On the other hand, I’m somewhere to the left of her center in my thinking, eating and exercise (HAH!) habits…

Debbie,

 First let me thank you for the kind words.

 Next let me address the food supply issue as I see it; and with the caveat that I am far from being an expert, or even a well-informed layman, in that area. Although I do have a number of opinions!

 Back when Moog and Mooga got hungry, they simply picked some berries, dug up some tubers or hit a snake or other creature over the head. Voila! Dinner was served.

 As our ancestors came down out of the trees and out of the caves their needs began to change and being humans, they figured out that if they grew their own food supplies they could have a more dependable food source and be better able feed their families and maybe even sell, or trade some of  their excess, to their neighbors. Thus we became an agrarian society.

 The downside was that there were still a lot of homo-sapiens that didn’t like the idea of giving up being hunters and fishers and figured out that if Moog and Mooga could grow it, then Thug and Tugette could steal it. That led to cities, fortifications, bigger farms, armies, more mouths to feed and some form of government.

 Mankind was moving away from agriculture as the main source of income and support. With cities came the advent of shoemakers (Er, sandal makers) butchers, bakers, green grocers and spice merchants. These craftsmen and merchants were needed to provide the stuff that the non-farmers, priests, politicians, poets, weavers and real estate agents had to wear and eat. And, that’s not counting carpenters, masons, scientists and sewer cleaners that were needed.

 We sort of began experimenting with civilization (?). Right!

 As our food needs increased some folks began tinkering with the idea that if they could grow more, on the same acreage, they could feed more people and make more money. So, one day when one of Moog’s progeny was mucking out the cow pen, he noticed that the grass seemed greener and the earth was “richer”. That was the beginning of the fertilizer industry. That idea is still with us: it’s called,  “Black Cow” and you can buy it in bags at Wal-Mart.

 Somewhere along the line, farmers found they couldn’t produce enough seeds to plant the larger volume of crops that they needed and the seed industry was born. At first the seed companies put bunches of seeds in a little paper bag (Actually, at first it was a folded leaf from the forest) and sold the seeds to the farmer who could now devote more time to growing product without having to set aside a portion of his crop to obtain the seed for next year’s crops.

 By then the fertilizer industry was booming and seeds were selling by the leaf full and yet, there was still not enough food to feed the ever increasing population. In order to increase crop yields the seed companies began diddling with the genetics of the seeds they were selling and figured out how to genetically alter them so they would grow bigger plants with more tomatoes, beans, corn and peas on them.

 Beef producers, sheep herders, pig sloppers, chicken raisers and turkey farms all began trying to find ways to grow bigger, better and more tasty meat. They did it with a combination of genetic alteration, chemical additives and special feed lots that were designed to get more meat to the market…

 Even the  local gardener fell prey to the fertilizer fad. Someone discovered that Epsom salts made a good fertilizer, added a few other ingredients to the mix and sold it as a more miraculous growth enhancer then Black Cow. By that time, of course, there were all sorts of organic and inorganic fertilizers being used on crops.

 With farms getting bigger and cities growing by leaps and bounds and longer distances and time from field-to-table those products had to be able to withstand the trip.  Genetic engineering — from seeds to live stock — became an imperative. The chicken we eat today is force-fed and the field crops have also had their genes tinkered with and steroid cocktails liberally added to most of it.

 Here’s a bit of a side note about raising chickens. When I was in my pre-teens I spent a couple of years in a foster home. The home happened to be an active farm. One of our “crops” was chickens.  It took us approximately 12 weeks to get a hatchling from a chick to a chicken ready for market. Today, the time is six weeks and the bird weighs around 4 pounds!

 Also, I understand that today, through genetics, chickens can be raised to have large thighs, or large wings, or large breasts — sort of customizing various parts for specific markets. That ain’t natural.

 Now, we come to the processing of those foods. Each step of the way, from farm-to-table chemicals in the guise of preservatives, color enhancers, ripening agents, tenderizers, pesticides and other gunk is sprayed, injected, rubbed and marinated onto or into those foods.

 That goes for “natural health” foods as well. In order to get produce from Brazil to America requires that the produce stay reasonably fresh and as tasty as modern chemistry can make it while being shipped from the grower to the processor.

 In a certain TV commercial, a healthy, athletic lady fords rivers and seeks out remote villages to find ingredients for the product she is promoting. You see her tasting the “fresh” fruit, grains and nuts. The truth of the matter is that by the time those ingredients are picked, packaged and placed on board a ship or whatever from wherever to the factory where the product is “finished” and boxed — it wouldn’t be fit to eat if at least a pesticide wasn’t applied to keep the creepy crawlers from feasting on what’s slated to become someone’s breakfast cereal.

 In theUnited States, alone, there are three hundred million (give or take) mouths to feed. That’s a lot of groceries. The reality of the matter, at least as I see it, is that there is no way to feed that many people three squares a day, plus snacks, deserts, puddings, candy bars, ice cream and doughnuts without putting chemicals in the mix.

 Of course, you could buy some open land and start your own natural farm and not use any fertilizers, pesticides or genetically altered seeds. And you would probably get a lot less yield for the same acreage where all those chemicals were being used. That might be desirable for you and you might be able to feed your family and maybe even a few friends.

 Unfortunately, even on such a farm, you would have pesticides, air pollution, acid rain and carbon emissions to contend with. The reality being that even under “natural” conditions your foods would be contaminated. Pine forests are succumbing to acid rain, rain forests are succumbing to logging and oil exploration and concrete bridges, roadways and buildings are being destroyed by acid rain.  What chance does a natural farm have?  Is that splitting hairs? Probably.

 But the reality is that if we don‘t find even faster and better ways to bring food to the populace of the world — we’re in big trouble.  Organic farming and fertilizer-free foods would, most probably, only feed about 50% of our current population — if we were really lucky. Most likely we will find an answer to the problems in even more genetically altered and chemically enhanced foods. Is that really bad? Maybe, maybe not…

 In 1900 before we started tinkering with sheep genes and tomato seeds, the average life expectancy, inAmerica, was 47.3 years. In 2010, in spite of carcinogens from automobiles and barbeque grills, acid rain from industrial emissions, high mercury levels in fish; plus all of the steroids, stabilizers, starches and slop that is added to our food supply every year, the life expectancy in the United States is now 78.37 years.

 And that life expectancy is in spite of hamburgers and fries that can sit in a bag for months without growing mold, or deteriorating (I’m not saying they’re edible) and all of the nasty chemical particulates that we breath, ingest or drink in our water — I have to think that we homo-sapiens are a pretty tough and adaptable breed: even though we’re living better — and longer — through chemistry!

 Is all of this a statement against natural foods and good eating habits? Not by a long shot. I think that anyone who has the gumption and wherewithal to want to take care of their bodies and health and feel that natural foods are the way to do it — that’s great and more power to them. As a popular slogan once admonished: “Eat right, exercise and die anyway!”

 But here’s a warning from a dyed-in-the-wool couch potato: “Don’t you dare touch my Nachos!”