Flying Pineapples
We’re lucky enough to have the luxury of going to the supermarket and have all the food we desire available. But we forget about the origin of this food and the consequences that go along with it. Do you think about the journey the food has to make before it’s in the supermarket?
Once I visited an old man in a hospital. He was really sick and could barely eat, but he didn't mind, he said. He just imagined himself walking around in the supermarket. "Past the fresh bread, through the aisle with the sweets and past the flying pineapples." I raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "Yes, flying pineapples", he said. "They fly over the ocean from the other side of the world." He was right, they do.
This story made me think about our food industry. We let food fly from all over the world just for our comfort. Pineapple, but also tomatoes, bananas and tonnes of other food. Another example is the Belgian shrimp industry. We're very lucky to have lots of shrimps in the North Sea, but what only a few people know is that the shrimps first visit Morocco before they are on our plates. Why, you might ask? Because it's much cheaper to shell them in Morocco, than here in Belgium. So they put all the shrimps on a plane, get them shelled then they fly back. Ridiculous right?
Back in time this wasn't the case. People only ate what was available at the farmer. Tomatoes were available in the summer, but in winter you were obligated to eat something else, for example kale or leek. However, it might seem horrible to only be able to eat seasonal vegetables, people were used to it and they didn't complain.
However, nowadays we're used to all the luxury of having everything available at the supermarket and we're willing to pay a little more for it.
Hence, these farmers are forced to destroy 20% of their harvest. They aren't able to offer tomatoes in wintertime, but supermarkets are. They let them import from a tropical country. Therefore, the farmers have a really hard time keeping there heads above the surface. Another disadvantage is the amount of chemicals they put in the food to keep it 'fresh' during the trip. This has negative consequences to our health.
So, next time you walk past the flying pineapples in the supermarket think about the old man, think about the farmers and your health. Choose fresh food from your local farmer and be proud of it. You will make a difference!
xoxo
-Laurine-