In January 2010, my mother was diagnosed with a stage 4 Glioblastoma maliforme, more commonly known as a malignant brain tumor. To date my mother has several months of cancer-free brain scans. As the one-year anniversary passes of my mother’s diagnosis, I can’t help but spend a little time reflecting on my so-called “cancer experience.” The year passed by in tiny increments of MRI scans and positive results, radiation treatments, chemotherapy, and drug trials. Broadly sweeping over that mix is the whirlwind of information and change that permeated every aspect of our family life. See, my mother assumed the role of warrior in this often-called “battle against cancer.” We took the traditional route of emergency brain surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, but my mother took her steps to recovery a bit further. She didn’t just want to chase cancer down the street, she wanted to catch up to it, to knock it down, and to triumphantly laugh as she stomped it to an unrecognizable bloody pulp. Cancer became enemy number one in our household. We fortified the castle with towers of books and prepared for battle with training exercises in intensive reading. Medical studies, contemporary trials, and general research all turned up the same piece of advice. The way to beat cancer, it seemed, was to tackle it from within. I don’t mean mentally, although mental fortification definitely has its place, but rather nutritionally. We learned the value of whole food, of organic whole food, and the power that it has in strengthening a body.
            I’ve carried the knowledge of my experience with me in my traveling months on TBB. Since studying sustainable agriculture in India, I’ve added two more key words to my general knowledge of food consumption: local and seasonal. Selecting and eating food with these three qualities in mind (organic, local, and seasonal) can provide a blueprint for navigating your way through the American food system. Additionally, eating locally produced, seasonal, organic foods could be the secret to regaining the health and wellness of our country.
            Unraveling the complex fabric of the American food system is a rather daunting task that I could never undertake in one blog post. From our pesticide ridden produce to genetically modified crops, to corn and soybean based processed foods and CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations), the entire industrialization of agriculture has taken a rather simple task –eating – and turned it into a daily dilemma. So how do we begin to make sense of it all? For me, it all goes back to those three little words: organic, local, and seasonal. Growing organic foods eliminates the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, allowing for a healthier population and a healthier environment. There’s no risk of carcinogenic substances weaseling their way into your food and no toxic runoff to deal with either. Eating locally gets rid of the fuel and pollution costs involved in transporting your food over long distances. Buying local produce also provides an outlet for community interaction, strengthening relationships between growers and eaters, producers and consumers. This provides accountability on the part of the farmer, ensuring quality product and production methods. Finally, eating seasonally forces people to eat foods when they’re at the peak of their nutritional value. 
            I’m not naïve enough to expect change to happen overnight. Even when confronted with cancer in my immediate family and informed about healthy changes in my personal eating habits, I still pop back a few peanut M&Ms every now and then. Informing yourself is a start. Switching from conventional produce to organic or buying from CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture), co-ops, or farmer’s markets instead of grocery stores are two examples of simple but effective changes that you can make immediately. Ultimately, I think making change in the American agricultural system comes down to two things: educating the people about the current system and the alternatives to the industrial system, and voting with our dollars. Ignorance is the lynchpin holding together the current industrialized agricultural system. By educating our friends and neighbors, we empower our nation to create the change that we so desperately need. Similarly, if we choose to spend every one of our dollars on food that is healthy, whole, organic, local, and seasonal, the market will inevitably respond to the demand.

             We have lost touch with our food. I know I have. Or at least, I had, until I came on this trip. I’d become blind to where what I eat comes from. I knew that things labeled “organic” were considered better, but cost and convenience almost always won out over health, personal or environmental. Then I came on this trip and began learning about both sustainable and industrial methods of farming, and I realized how much what I ate mattered. Mattered to me, ethically and socially, to my health, to the environment, to people I had never met all over the world. I have since made a personal goal for myself when I go home to focus on local, sustainable, real food and to think about what I eat and where it comes from. However, if I am to focus on the impact my food has on the world, does that mean no more bananas, which do not naturally grow in the Mid-Atlantic region? To absolve my food sins, must I become a born-again vegan, forsaking all meat, dairy and eggs in the name of animal rights? Is it the end of my love affair with coffee and dark chocolate, both of which are shipped from more tropical climates? I hadn't really thought about the obvious fact that changing the way I eat might mean making sacrifices. I started to get nervous about going home: what was there to eat and how much would I have to give up to eat it?
            I have taken ‘fresh’ produce for granted in my life, living under the assumption that I can have any fruit or vegetable whenever I want it, regardless of the season. However, when I learned that food travels an average of 1,300 miles to reach the American consumer, with 87 calories of fuel used for every 1 calorie of food that is transported, my broccoli and strawberries suddenly oozed fossil fuels. Those same strawberries were also likely grown with vast amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which is bad not only for the earth but also for my health. Beyond that, unseasonal food never tastes as good as the real deal. I realize that it just doesn’t make sense for me to eat as much nonlocal produce out of season as I do. So if lessening my impact means forgoing tomatoes in the winter, that just means that fresh tomatoes in summer will taste all the more delicious. And there are seasonal vegetables almost all year round, which will be easy for me to find since I have a farmers market five minutes from my house (you might too--check out www.localharvest.org to find out!) Knowing that I'm supporting local farmers and knowing where my food comes from makes giving up pineapples from Mexico totally worth it.
            What about eating meat? I’ve been pondering the idea of vegetarianism for a while, always pledging to myself that I'd “start in college.” You’d think that after everything I've learned about CAFOs (Controlled Animal Feeding Operations), animal cruelty and the health and environmental impacts of meat, I would never even be able to look at a burger again, much less eat one. However, I have also learned that there are a lot of sustainable, humane ways to eat meat. So while I’ll be lessening my carnivorous ways I'm not giving it up entirely. I'll be getting my chicken and beef from a small local farm where the animals were raised and slaughtered humanely and weren't pumped full of corn, antibiotics and hormones. My knowledge about the meat industry means that I won't be eating meat that comes from CAFOs. Unless I know that the meat I'm eating is sustainable, I'll be getting the vegetarian option at restaurants and at college. And while this might be an impossibility to those not so vegetarian-inclined, I am more than willing to make this sacrifice.
            Finally, what to do about all those foods that have been processed beyond recognition and/or shipped from all the far corners of the earth? I will feel like a liar unless I confess that as I write this, I am eating gummy bears that were made in Turkey, sent to the US, and then shipped here to India by my friend in a care package. Not only that, 3 of the first 5 ingredients in said gummy bears comes from corn. What a hypocrite I am. So far, the only change I've made with regards to processed and imported foods is the newfound feeling of guilt I get when eating my Haribo Gold-Bears that I never had before. Ignorance was corn syrupy bliss. Since I am now forced to think about where my food comes from, I will likely cut down greatly on the amount of processed food I eat, opting for natural foods where I can pronounce all the ingredients. As for imported goods, I'll be conscious of where my food comes from and will try to pick the local option (I wonder if there is a gummy bear factory in Northern Virginia...). However, I've also come to value the barter system: we import luxury foods like coffee and chocolate that we can't get in America, while also exporting many goods that the coffee and cacao farmers can't get in their own countries. So I think it's fine to have a few luxuries, as long as you consider how said product was made (fair trade, organic, etc.) and choosing local when you can.
            I realize that when I return home in May, I'm going to have to start making a lot of different decisions about my food. Though I know that it isn’t realistic to give up all inorganic, nonlocal, processed foods, I do want to limit these things as much as I can. But am I sacrificing?  By changing my perspective about where my food comes from and trying to choose what's best for me and the earth and therefore often the best for my taste buds, I’m really gaining a lot more than I give up.  The alternative, turning a blind eye to the things I’ve learned and not changing the way I eat, would only hurt me in the end, poisoning my health and the earth.

        Let me tell you something about a woman. She runs a performing group that keeps her teaching Monday through Thursday and then an additional three hours every Saturday. When she isn’t teaching or preparing for her 8 classes she is busy running a household and raising five kids. Each lives a very busy life, filled with dance classes, sports games, or keeping up a social life. I know this only because she is my mother. In between teaching, choreographing, and running her kids to where they have to go, she some how finds time to keep her house clean, visit the relatives, give her patient husband the attention, and feed her children. Right there she hits a wall.
            My mom wants to feed her kids in a healthy manner but sometimes her schedule doesn’t give her the time she needs to plan out a good healthymeal. Cereal for dinner doesn’t really cut it. Of course that is only when she just really doesn’t have time to make us anything. She, like most mothers, wants to give the best she can to her children.
            Before the trip I was completely oblivious to the benefits, let alone the importance of eating locally, organically, and seasonally. Growing up it has always been what was on sale is what we bought. I was completely happy to go to McDonalds or eat a pineapple when it was out of season and not give it a second thought. I never once asked the question, “Where did my food come from?”. I would just enjoy the food that was put in front of me. I only ever checked to see if my canned tuna was dolphin safe.
            Sadly, my former apathy mirrors the mentality of many people in the US today. Although most people are aware that the organic industry is out there, they look at it as an inconvenience. The food must be too expensive to be worth it. When I asked my mother if she knew how much smarter and healthier organic food is she replied, “Well everyone knows that it’s better, but until prices are lowered most people are going to choose the cheaper option.” Mothers across the nation share this same opinion, but what they don’t realize is that the higher prices can be worth it. So much of our food is poisoned by pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers or pumped with steroids that the health consequences can be severe. So when I heard my mother’s opinion I responded with, “The money you use now to buy poison-free food is the money you won’t be spending later on hospital bills.” When it comes to your children or your own health, it is better to be safe than sorry.
            Switching to organic may seem a little daunting, but there are little things here and there that you can do. Plan a family project and grow a garden in your backyard. That way you don’t have to even worry about buying the right products, and it keeps you aware of what produce is seasonal. Visit your local farmers market and buy all that you can there in a place where you know you aren’t being poisoned. Even in supermarkets, try to buy more locally. Take the time to check the labels and see where it is grown, the closer to home the better. Or even try to buy things that don’t even have labels. Buy seasonal food. Stop your weekly visit to Taco Bell. It all comes down to just being aware! Before you eat something sit back and think, “Where has this food been?” What is it made of?” or “How did it get here?”. Just take into thought of what you are eating and what you are feeding your family and friends. Even for my mother, who sometimes has a hard time finding time in her busy schedule to make sure my little sister gets a bath more then once a week, can find the time to check the labels at the grocery store or give my brothers a summer job to plant a garden. It is a lot easier than it sounds, so just do it! I promise, the benefits will be worthwhile.As one of our Indian friends always says, “Grow organic, eat organic, save the earth”.

          More like Local, Seasonal, and Farmers’ Markets. I promised myself that in college I would not give in to the pizza and beer diet; the only thing that I would gain from that is the “freshman 15” anyways. I want to focus on eating locally, seasonally and organically. But will that even be possible with a busy college life? Especially once exams come around, will I still have time to go to a nearby farmers’ market or organic supermarkets, or will I just have to resort to Chinese take-out that will deliver greasy, processed food right to my doorstep? But most importantly: what about Starbucks?? Will I have to sacrifice my beloved lattes in order to stick to my new plan?

            Going to college is not necessarily associated with a conscious effort of eating sustainably; not at all actually. College is more associated with alcohol, parties and walks of shame. Instead of doing the walk of shame on a Sunday morning, I want to be walking to the farmers’ market that is within a 10-minute walk of my dorm. Don’t I have a dining hall to go to? Yes, but what if the only fruit they offer during the winter are apples from China, bananas from Chile and oranges from California? That wouldn’t really fit into eating sustainably when going to a college on the East Coast. But even if that is the case, colleges are usually very willing to change that situation if enough people take the initiative to ask for sustainable food. You don’t know where the food at your college is coming from? Just ask! Asking does not cost anything. And if you’re too shy, ask a friend to do it for you. You can even bribe them with cookies, though of course, they should be produced sustainably.

            In India, while studying sustainable agriculture, I started realizing the full extent of our destructive industrial agricultural practices. Not only do they deplete our soils and rob our foods of precious nutrition, the runoff from the fields polluted with chemical fertilizers and pesticides also poisons our water, kills off animal species, and ruins our environment. It is no coincidence that ever since genetically modified crops and chemical fertilizers have been introduced to our system the cancer rates of our population have soared. It scares me to think that because of eating unsustainably grown produce and processed foods I could be setting myself up for a terminal illness and/or outrageously expensive hospital bills later in life.
      

Is it actually that hard to eat in a sustainable matter?

            In my opinion, with all the resources at our fingertips today, eating sustainably can actually be quite easy. We have something lovely at our hands these days, called the World Wide Web, where you can even find out about the obstacles of having a unicorn as your pet. There are many ways to inform yourself about farmers’ markets in your area, as well as stores that sell produce from regional farmers that is not genetically engineered, pumped full of antibiotics or has an inch of chemicals slapped on top of it. So should I do all my shopping at Whole Foods if my college dining hall does not fulfill my new requirements of eating sustainably? Not necessarily. Whole Foods is what is called industrial organic. Due to the vary vague description of organic by the USDA, organic beef is not necessarily grass-fed, nor does the natural flavor in your favorite raspberry drink come from actual raspberries, and the “free-range” chicken is not roaming around in an idyllic open space, as you might envision. It saddens and angers me that industrial organic has people fooled so well. With the $ 11 billion industry it has built without any help from the government it is now the fastest growing sector of our food economy.

            So no, I will neither be buying my apples at Whole Foods that have been imported from China, nor the organic salmon that has been caught by Native Americans in Yakutat, Alaska, nor the really yummy ginger cookies they sell. They might fulfill the USDA’s regulations on organic but I sure do not want to eat an apple that has traveled 7, 000 miles and been preserved with some kind of additive to arrive on my plate still being reasonably fresh.

            I will try my best instead to get my college dining hall to buy their foods from local farms and regard the seasons of vegetables and fruits when planning their menus. But I might have to give up my Starbucks lattes for a while. Even though they are practicing fair trade with Africa, where they get their coffee from, the milk in the lattes is everything but sustainable. Until Starbucks uses milk bought from local farmers that keep their cows on pastures and allow them to live like a cow should, I will be avoiding Starbucks lattes and future health risks. If you do not care about that detail, please at least get your own portable mug instead of getting the paper to-go cups every time. Little changes like these will improve the health of the planet, our planet.

            If you feel inspired by this, tell a friend, your mom, dad, shrink, anyone! Help raise awareness about the environmental constraints we are causing our planet and how easy it is to switch from a destructive to a sustainable way of eating. I sure know that I don’t want to be moving to Mars in a couple of years because our planet is refusing to pop out all that yummy food that is necessary to our survival.  It is not that far off in the future until our planet will do exactly that: refuse to produce. We cannot keep on poisoning our planet and expect it to continue generating what keeps us alive: whole, healthy food.