Greenhouse: Seven Ways to Green Your Grocery List
Here’s an interesting phenomenon that I think reflect the sorry state of the economy here in Michigan: I am seeing a lot more people at Trader Joe’s carrying Whole Foods canvas bags. And here’s my theory why: Whole Foods, while a wonderful shopping experience (they smell like lavender!) and a great place to score beautiful, high quality food, is also referred to as “Whole Paycheck” for a reason.
Trader Joe’s, on the other hand, while certainly a less upscale destination, is also a heck of a lot cheaper. I think Earth-conscious foodies are at least checking out ways to cut their grocery bills while not abandoning organics altogether.
Environmental magazine Grist recently had a piece on greening your grocery list while saving money. Their seven tips are:
- Make a list
Now I have a question for you:
What happens if Trader Joe is too far away to bike, and Whole Foods is really close and can be biked to? How do you reconcile the two?:
http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/green-grocery-shopper-conundrum/
Now I have a question for you:
What happens if Trader Joe is too far away to bike, and Whole Foods is really close and can be biked to? How do you reconcile the two?:
http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/green-grocery-shopper-conundrum/
Thank you, Jesup!
No surprise, actually – especially in urban/suburban areas, any ‘local’ farmers are essentially boutique farms, with higher costs (land taxes, school taxes, lack of economy of scale, small rocky fields, local cost of living, etc) than big industrial producers. They cut out the middlemen – but they also have to sell in small-lot retail in farmers markets, and eat (figuratively) what doesn’t sell.
People in such areas shop at farmers markets for reasons other than price.
As for GMO’s – the ironic thing is that GMOs can be in many ways far “greener” than traditional crops, though it depends on the exact item. For example, a plant engineered to have natural resistance/toxins to insects can reduce the amount of pesticides (and fuel) used; or it may fix nitrogen or otherwise use less fertilizer (less fuel, less runoff, etc). Or it could be more resistant to RoundUp/etc, which might encourage more pesticide use, which can be bad – or might allow a single larger use instead of other more-frequent and larger total applications.
Much of the association of “no GMOs” with “green” is a general “it’s unnatural” and fear of unknown reaction (capitalized on by those opposed to GMOs). There’s very little evaluation on merits, let alone of individual cases. Hybrid varieties, extreme selective breeding, etc often produce crops far different than ‘wild’, but no one protests them. (yes, there is a difference, but you get my point.)
For example, if everyone ate true organic food, avoided pesticides, etc – the world would starve, big-time. Suburbia would need to be plowed under again, and that still wouldn’t do it, not even close.
I live in MA, and I don’t think I’ve *ever* seen anything cheaper at the farmer’s market than it would’ve been at a non-Whole-Foods grocery store. It baffles me.