How to Buy Green Produce w/Marion Nestle
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 01.17.07
This week on TreeHuggerTV we are back in the supermarket shopping with nutriton expert Marion Nestle. You may have caught a previous THTV episode when Marion was helping us to buy green milk. This week we're in the fruit and veg aisle and Marion is lamenting the fact that lack of labelling means we can't tell where the apples come from. This is especially frustrating when they are out of season because we can't tell how far round the world they've travelled. Come help us carry the shopping basket and learn more about the pros and cons of selecting organic fruit and vegetables in the supermarket.
To digest more healthy info on green produce you can munch your way through the TreeHugger archives. First up is the controversy surrounding the latest appointments at the National Organics Standard Board (NOSB) by the USDA. While we're in favour of organics we are also in favour of a balanced and diverse group of experts advising the USDA on how to regulate the organics industry. Read more about USDA organic produce labelling here.
Back in the supermarket you can catch up with how the sales of Organic produce in the UK continue to rise. In the US for better or for worse Wal-Mart has now jumped on the organic band wagon. However, some of you might feel happier shopping at Wholefoods or even using organic produce delivery services such as L.O.V.E. Your local farmers' market is also a great option where you can choose what you want and be assured that it is local, organic and in season. If you aren't full to bursting yet then check out the TH How to Green Your Meals Guide for some extra tips.
Here are a number of other ways you can watch THTV: Subscribe to our weekly podcast from iTunes, so that you receive a new episode every week without any effort at all! You can also use the TreeHugger XML feed to subscribe. Or you can visit BlipTV, You Tube and Google Video. And lastly, iTunes and Quicktime users, here are your links: iTunes MOV
TH, I really like the look of the TH TV episodes...but I can't understand the words. I'm deaf. I guess closed/open captioning is out of order (cost issue) but for the episodes that are probably preplanned could you have the written transcripts available? This is doubly true of the H radio episodes as speechreading is out. Also this would be good for others who don't have the best audio quality (showing it to an audience in a noisy situation or large room) and/or English language learners.
Thank you, Anon.
I really appreciate your feedback and will try to make this happen. In reality, we have a very small staff working on these segs and we are pretty stretched as it is. That said, accessibility is key and we will work towards that in all incarnations.
My best,
Simran
Disclaimer: I'm in the produce industry.
I understand what Marion was trying to do, but at least part of what she says is just misleading. First about the apples... Out of season? Apples are only picked for a short time (a few weeks a year), regardless of growing region. They are kept in controlled atmosphere (CA) storage for very long periods of time. Apples put in CA storage effectively quit the ripening process and come out of storage in the exact same condition. I'm told apples can stay in CA for over a year. Additionally, while I wouldn't say that buying locally isn't better for the environment, consumers shouldn't feel too bad about buying standard produce. The highly competitive nature of the fresh produce market has forced most of the waist out of the industry. Truck miles are minimized, and loads are built to reduce trips. The carbon foot print is reduced by monetary necessity. Also about freshness, most players in the standard produce industry have extremely fast supply chains, which never break the cold chain.
Marion said that Organic means no pesticides, etc. etc., but... non-GMO! I think that's wrong?
As far as I understand the corporations that package and sell produce are not required to display GMO information probably because of a lot of lobbying and legal BS. Can anyone confirm? In my opinion this is a huge problem.
From the documentary "The Future of Food", it appears to be a revolving door situation with the FDA and corporations like Monsanto that develop GMO produce for nothing other than profit. I haven't seen the movie in over a year, so the details have slipped my mind, regardless there are a lot of details that would be too lengthy to explain here.
BTW, I happen to find the documentary on Youtube and Google video here http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=849146694200968214&q=the+future+of+food
Interesting information and the foregoing comments are also useful.
So, what's with the Seneca Apple Chips product placement ad?
I never have time to watch your videos...it takes me about 2 minutes to read the transcript of a 10 minute video (if that long) and i don't have to wait for a transcript to download forever. So please post transcripts if you can, and I can get my information quickly and efficiently, and not have to waste my time.
Thanks,
Carol
Nice info - and the foregoing comments are also useful!