Modern Living Like The Good Old Days
With the rise in processed food and lack of fresh ingredients in some of our diets; with ready meals flying off the shelf as we look for cost cutting, time saving ways to feed our families, is it time to take a look at why we are being encouraged to 'go organic' and ask if this is a fashion fad or a reinvention of the wheel?
A few decades ago our diets consisted mainly of in-season produce, locally grown. Before the rise of the supermarket and the superstores that now dominate our towns, most villages could boast a local greengrocers and a small parade of shops, where the owners greeted you by name and served you with a smile and a friendly chat.
The produce was sourced from local or neighbouring farms and once the strawberries were gone - they were gone!
We weren't spoiled with an abundance of food to waste - and vegetables that had started to soften were still used in stews.
Sell-by-dates weren't printed on non-recyclable cellophane packaging and eggs were not individually stamped.
The majority of people interpret sell-by-dates to be little more than an invention to encourage us to buy more.
Best-before dates are generally protecting against compensation claims - usually from those who may need warnings similar to "drink water in hot weather" and "contents hot" labels on a takeaway coffee.
Produce wasn't transported across continents in bulk, forced to mature early and left to rot as surplus stock.
Most farmers and suppliers kept their produce as natural as possible - working the land and tending to their crop with little help from man-made pesticides and fertilisers.
Apples had to be quartered to avoid the odd maggot hiding inside and bruises were cut off and the remainder consumed.
Potatoes were covered in mud long after they left the ground and had to be washed and peeled to create home-made chips. "Taste the difference" was the norm - with most tomatoes smelling heavenly and freshly picked.
The meat from the butchers was plump from good farming - with no 'added' water to make the weight; eggs were all free range and fresh meant exactly that.
It seems the modern trend towards using local producers and growing-your-own is gaining momentum. Supporting local business in a period of recession and using local services more will go a small way to helping the economy recover.
But isn't this how we used to live. Isn't this modern tread just a re-invention of a time before? And if it is - is that such a bad thing?
Whether to buy organic or not is a personal choice but fresh is a must with all food produce - how can something packaged and shipped around the world and back be considered that?
So is being encouraged to 'go organic and buy fresh' simply modern living - like the good old days...