Food Choices & Purchases

As I learn more about the environment and related issues the more I realize how connected the many parts of our lives are.  One area I have been reading on and learning more about lately is food and agriculture.  In my efforts to live in a more Earth-friendly way I have been trying to reduce packaged and processed foods from our diet.  This began because I simply wanted to reduce the amount of packaging we were recycling or throwing away.  I've tried to replace these items with unpackaged produce and bulk bin purchases for which I can use my own bags and avoid packaging waste.

An added benefit of purchasing unprocessed, packaged foods and produce has been that I've learned a lot about cooking and how to use these items in various dishes, and about the effects that different foods have on our bodies.  There are many, many foods in the world and I'm just beginning to learn about them but even in a short amount of time I feel that my worldview of food and food production has been greatly changed.  In addition to the culinary uses and health effects of food, I've also learned a bit about the impact that different farming methods and products have on the environment, and directly or indirectly our health as well.

Some things that are of import to Americans I wanted to share, since it seems that we often think that eating more healthy or more organic is prohibitively expensive.  I certainly thought this way but have found that eating more healthy has been a minimal increase in cost, if any increase at all.

1. We spend a far smaller amount of our income on food today than in the past
1. In total, Americans today spend 15.3% of our income on food, compared to 40% that we spent in 1949.  In other words, if we paid about 3 times the price we currently pay for food we would be paying a comparable amount to what our grandparents paid for food.
2. Compared to other countries we spend very little of our budget on food purchases
1. For the average American household, food accounts for about 6% of all our purchases during the year.  (This differs from the 15.3% above because that figured is in total and the 6% is calculating food expenditures on an average household basis.) The US has the 12th highest GDP per capita in the world, $48,100 per year.  
2. Compare this percentage of income to a much poorer country like South Africa, which has the 105th highest GDP per capita, $11,000 per year, but where food accounts for 20% of purchases.  Or India, where food accounts for 35% of expenses and the GDP per capita is $3,700 a year - 163rd globally.
3. In fact, the US spends the smallest percentage of income on food of any country in the world, while being one of the most wealthy countries.  Although it makes sense that food is a somewhat fixed costs in terms of quantity (a person can only eat a limited amount of food) it is telling that our food costs are about half of an average European country which have similarly high income per capita.  For example, Norway has a higher GDP per capita, $53,300 (8th highest globally), but spends 11% of their budget on food.
3. The percentage of our population that is obese continues to increase
   As of 2009-2010, over one third (35.7%) of American adults are obese.
   

Although these figures vary somewhat between different studies and sources the overall picture is clear. We spend very little of our income on food purchases, and our health continues to be severely damaged by preventable diseases related to obesity (heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer).

In the future I plan to write more about food and how we are trying to improve our eating habits. Food and health are complex issues with many variables to consider, but eating more unprocessed foods is a simple first step to better health that has been enjoyable for us so far.

 to Honeycrisp

Switching from Golden Crisp . . .

Local Produce and a Guessing Game Contest

Although I plan to post about local produce in the future, I couldn't resist sharing these photos.  If you're not already familiar this is Eva, the namesake of this blog, and she's a big fan of the ultra-local food movement (only eating produce grown within 100 feet of your kitchen).

This basket of lemons is from the tree in our backyard and as you can see Eva is pumped about having so many yellow things to play with and/or eat.  There's about an equivalent amount still left on the tree.

Guessing game: How many lemons are in the basket?

Person closest to the correct number will receive a package in the mail with some super sweet surprises, including at least one of the pictured lemons.  Put your guess in the comments section to participate, or send me an email if you're shy.



Contest ends Friday, 2/24 so add your guess now if you want to play.

Cheers!

Coffee as Fertilizer, It's Not Just for People Anymore - January 2nd

For 2012 I'm writing this blog to document things our family has done to be more Earth-friendly. This is the January 2nd posting. Hopefully you'll find some helpful ideas and decide to take some action to help promote a healthier planet. I'd appreciate any feedback you have, and if you'd like to share successes you've had I'd like to hear them so we can try to do more.
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I haven't always been a coffee drinker, and didn't grow up in a household that drank coffee at all (although my grandparents did). However, in more recent years I've grown fond of the last legal vice and generally have some each day. About a year and a half ago my mother-in-law informed me that not only is coffee delicious, but it is also a great fertilizer.

Commentary:

Coffee is a global commodity, and in recent years it has surged in popularity. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2009, 8,261,487 tons were produced globally. According to PBS Frontline, this amounts to more than 500 billion cups of coffee consumed each year.

Coffee beans have a sizable amount of nitrogen, which is a great fertilizer, and contain around 2% nitrogen by weight. (Here's a Sunset Magazine article that purchased a laboratory analysis of a sample of beans. Also, if you live on the West Coast I highly recommend Sunset for articles on travel, gardening, events, etc. They also regularly publish books on cooking, bird watching, gardening, and many other topics.)

When I first learned of the magical fertilizing properties of coffee I didn't regularly brew or drink coffee, so I didn't have access to used grounds. However, during a winter trip to Kansas I entered a Starbucks and nearly tripped over an overflowing bucket of grounds that was next to the door and available to anyone for free. Little did I know that Starbucks has a 'Grounds for your Garden' program that has been around since 1995 and offers free grounds to customers at their stores.

When I returned from my trip I inquired at my local Starbucks in San Diego about this program and although they weren't participating in the program at the time, I contacted local area manager Joshua Longacre and he got the program going in all of the downtown San Diego stores. I've also since inquired at many other coffee shops and have yet to be turned down on a request for fresh, free grounds.

In addition to helping your plants grow, using grounds in your yard reduces the amount of waste being taken to the landfill.  With the huge amount of coffee produced, that's a big deal.  Two birds with one bean, if you will. The smell of coffee grounds also repels some types of pests, so in addition to promoting growth in your garden they can help deter intruders from eating your carrots.

 Although good for plants, I wouldn't recommend using grounds on houseplants since there's not as much room for the nutrients to disperse and they can make the soil overly acidic.

Suggested action steps:

1) Enjoy coffee (If you don't drink coffee you can get free grounds at most any coffee shop - just ask at the counter and they'll usually be glad to help.)
2) Sprinkle grounds onto garden, lawn, shrubs, trees, etc. I usually pour some water over the grounds too, but you don't have to.  I wouldn't sprinkle one area with grounds more than once a month, and make sure to spread the love. :)
3) Watch plants grow
4) Smile while enjoying shade, fruits and vegetables, or feeling of grass between your toes

Please let me know if you have any comments, compliments, criticisms, or questions regarding this post or have suggestions for future posts. If you'd like to receive future posts via email, enter your email address in the box at the top right labelled "Follow by Email".

Now for a great song with some coffee references:

Thank you!

Category: Food, Garden