May 29 2008
Some Food Facts
Lots of things are going on in my garden, including the construction of my first hoop house (yay!), but I’ve left my camera in Massachusetts and can’t take any pictures. So here are a few very interesting factoids about food and growing:
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Giving up one day per week of eating red meat will lessen your carbon footprint as much as eating locally all year. This calculation is based on the intrinsic greenhouse gases released by cows in the form of methane and nitrous oxide.
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According to a UC Davis study, organically grown tomatoes have considerably more flavonoids (antioxidants) than conventionally grown tomatoes. Grass fed and grass finished beef have a higher percentage of omega 3 fatty acids, healthful fats which are scarce in the American diet, than grain fed beef.
World food prices have increased dramatically, by almost 60 percent on average since March of last year, according to the index compiled by the World Food and Agricultural Organization, and there’s no sign yet that they’re going to substantially fall back in the near future.
Some of that increase is due to US policies turning food into fuel in the form of ethanol. Yet both Democratic candidates are in South Dakota today touting their support of ethanol subsidies.
