WEBVTT - Is it better to buy local or organic food? 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.840 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.600 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you Should Know 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:12.039 from House Stuff Works dot com. Welcome to the podcast. 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:15.880 I'm Josh Clark. Chuck Bryant's about the vomit. But the 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.560 two of us together, you get a squishy, fat podcast 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:22.639 called Stuff you Should Know. Yeah. Well it's true though 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:26.200 too and kind of Harry too, Chucky, Harry and squishy. 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:29.040 It's a bad combination. We're like one of those tumors 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:31.240 that kind of grows out of you when you ate 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:33.440 your twin in the womb, you know, the tumors where 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:36.120 they find like hair and fingernails and teeth. We're like 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:40.080 one of those when you put us together. Yes we are. Yeah, 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:44.400 good stuff, Josh, Thanks Chuck, So Chuck. Speaking of all that, 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:49.479 did you know our first lady planted her own garden 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:52.159 outside the White House recently? I did. I bet she 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:54.040 had a little help, but yeah, she did from some 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:56.720 local school kids, although I bet they just screwed around 0:00:56.720 --> 0:00:59.280 the whole time. School kids are useless when it comes 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:02.120 to gardening, and they are, But yeah, Michelle Obama planted 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:05.560 a garden. Apparently it's the first kitchen garden since Eleanor 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.680 Roosevelt was in the White House. Pretty cool running the 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:11.280 show while her polio stricken husband couldn't even get out 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:15.360 of bed. Um. So but yeah, so and that that 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:19.560 that that you know, Barack keeps getting compared to fdr um. 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:22.200 So this is appropriate enough. But the big thing, the 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:24.880 big hubbub about all this is that she chose to 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:27.959 go a hundred percent organic. Right, Yeah, good move. Yeah, 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:30.280 and this day and age, that's just a smart thing 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:32.800 to do, you right, well, and why not is my point. 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:34.760 If you're planning your own garden, I'll tell you why not. 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:38.880 As far as the Mid America Crop Life Association, which 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:42.760 is basically a pesticide and fertilizer trade association, they have 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:44.959 a lot of nice things to say. They they sent 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:48.200 her a letter basically saying they never said the word 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:51.720 and this is from a Times UK article, but they 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:57.920 never said the word fertilizer or um organic anything like that. 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:01.600 They just basically wanted to know that America owns it 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.480 owes its robust physique to all the technological advances in 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:09.240 agriculture that have taken place over the years, meaning fertilizer 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:13.320 and pesticide exactly. Yeah. So, um, apparently a lot of 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:16.160 people didn't really like the fact that the UM M 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:19.239 a c A took it upon themselves to send Michelle 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:22.920 Obama a letter. Um. So there's a petition online right now, 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:26.160 um and at least a hundred thousand people assigned it 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.400 basically telling the M a c A to lay off 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:32.359 their pesticide propaganda. And I just made air quotes for 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:35.720 everybody who can't see interesting. Yeah, well, I hope it works. 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.079 I guess it will. I don't know. But the point 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:42.760 is is Michelle Obama's going organic and a lot of 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.200 people are right. Yeah, it's it's sort of the thing. 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:47.880 It is thinks so much so that now there's there's 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:51.440 a term big organic. Have you heard this? Uh yeah, Josh, 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:57.360 big organic is um like Walmart is carrying uh organic food. 0:02:57.400 --> 0:02:59.800 Now that's what you would call big organic. Yeah. If 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:02.960 you're a mom and pop farmer, you can't. So you 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:05.799 can't sell it to Walmart. You just can't do it. 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:10.959 It takes, you know, huge agricultural concerns that have tens 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:13.840 of thousands of acres at their disposal, cranking out as 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.600 much as they can per acre and It's kind of 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:19.799 sad to see organics go that way because it's that's 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.079 pretty that's a pretty big shift from its roots and 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:26.959 feel forgive the pund very nice, Josh, I hate puns. Yeah, 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:29.440 for anyone who likes puns, I would strongly advise you 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:33.600 to go listen to tech Stuff, one of our sisters podcasts. Yeah. 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:38.240 Oh and Strickland isn't isn't completely innocent of his puns either. Yeah. 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:40.080 So I guess we should probably get back to talking 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:44.200 about organics, right, yeah, alright, so Chuck, is it better 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.760 to buy local organic? And actually we probably shouldn't take 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:52.040 traditional factory farm. I guess we'll just call it traditionally 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:57.120 grown um food out of the equation quite yet, right, right, 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:00.920 non organic? Big farm? Is that what you're talking? Yeah, 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.400 but I mean big or yeah, yes, big farm, right, 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:07.000 the ones that use like pesticides and fertilizers and stuff 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.200 like that. I'm trying to see if we can get 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:10.760 the M A c A after us. I want a 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:12.760 letter of my own. That'd be pretty cool. That would 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:16.400 be super cool. Frame it for the cube. Oh yeah, definitely. Um. Actually, Josh, 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:18.640 when I read this, I thought it was interesting because 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:24.000 I wanted to say, well, why not both organic and local? Yeah, 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:26.080 which is the pretty obvious thing, But that's kind of 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.040 not the point in the article. Well, let's talk about 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:32.600 it first. What's wrong with with you know, traditionally grown stuff. Well, 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:35.279 I've got some stats for you. I love your stats 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:37.840 that can illustrate just what might be wrong with it. Uh. 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:42.159 I conventionally grown apple, Josh Josher's maybe sprayed up to 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:46.320 sixteen times with over thirty different chemicals, and it's lifetime 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:48.680 that apple that you're eating right before you put it 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:50.839 in your mouth, which is why you wash the food, 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.640 shining it on your shirt. I imagine that just kind 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:57.560 of smears the pesticides and fertilizers around. And I imagine 0:04:57.600 --> 0:04:59.960 running it under a cold tap for a second doesn't 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.440 a whole lot either. Yeah. I found, Um, there's a 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:06.800 book on Google Books. It's called Supernutrition for Men. They 0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:11.360 actually recommended that if you, um buy commercially grown veggies 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.440 what we're talking about, traditionally grown stuff, Um, you want 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:17.880 to soak it in a three percent hydrogen peroxide solution 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:21.120 before you eat it. Yeah, And they said that if 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:23.200 you really want to go to town, you can mix 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:26.400 a half a teaspoon of bleach in a gallon of 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:29.120 water and soak your vegetables and then will get rid 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:31.279 of the pesticides and bacteria and all that stuff they 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:35.560 can come along with traditionally grown food. So that wouldn't 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:37.600 what happens to the bleach though, Does it wear off 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:40.039 or something? They you soak it for another ten minutes 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:42.479 and just clean water. But I should also say, if 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:45.279 you do make a bleach solution, um, you want to 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:50.280 use purified or distilled water because normal hard tap water 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:54.839 actually has compounds that can that can fuse to the 0:05:54.880 --> 0:06:00.280 bleach and create carcinogens. No, there's an alternative of though, 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:05.080 which we were just talking about, right, it's called what organic. Yes, yes, 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:06.719 I have one more stat for you though before we 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:09.280 move on, just so people know what they're putting in 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:12.080 their body. It's important, uh the FDA that they actually 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:14.280 did this one and they said that between thirty three 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:18.200 and thirty nine of our food contains detectable amount of 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:24.039 pesticides and of the fruits and thirty of our vegetables 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:27.080 out of that lot, so that's you're eating pesticide and 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.680 came definitely and these things can have um, you know, 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:34.520 harmful effects. They've been shown to have harmful effects like headaches, fatigue. Um, 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:37.640 there's na pesticides that have been shown to be neural disruptors, 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:41.359 which is awful. Um. Yeah, nausea is not fun. You 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:45.359 don't eat four nausea you know. No, No, So okay, 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:47.880 so we're just gonna go ahead and say if you 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:51.240 eat traditional farm food whatever, more power to you. It's 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:53.080 a good idea to know what's in your food, right, 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:54.719 you should know what you're putting in and there you 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:58.400 can also make a case for using pesticides and fertilizers 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:02.520 and stuff like that. Um no, you can't, well, I think, 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:06.240 And their point is, in a big um farming situation, 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:11.400 it's pretty much near impossible to sustain that without using pesticides. Well. 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:14.240 Plus also it usually makes for much cheaper food. Yeah, 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:18.160 it's a lot less labor intensive. Um. You know, if 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:23.320 you're using like um uh, natural pesticide methods, this is 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:27.320 usually much more difficult. It requires a lot more labor, 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:29.760 and thus the price is going to go up, which 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.000 is why if you're poor in America you're not eating 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:36.600 organic food. Now, it's definitely a bit price here. So okay, 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.160 so let's talk organic chuck. Yes, the U s d 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:43.080 A has a program Josh called the National Organic Program fittingly, 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:46.520 and they are the people that certify things organic. When 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:49.160 you see certified organic, it has to run through them 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:53.080 your whole operation. Uh. You know, the seeds cannot be 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:57.920 genetically modified at all or treated with synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:00.360 It's all this is laid out. And if you quality 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:03.480 steps as a program, you can be certified organic. Right 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:07.559 and and actually, um, there the standards are pretty good 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.720 there there. They were almost questionable there in two thousand four. 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:14.120 In April two thous four, the U. S d A 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:19.320 issued three directives, right, and one of them was it 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:24.440 allowed fertilizers and pesticides to be used that contain unknown ingredients. 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:29.400 And I just made air quotes again, um and uh. 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:34.800 You could also feed livestock non organic fish meal, which 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.160 who knows what's in that? Sure, and you could also 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:39.960 use antibiotics on them. Those are two directives, and then 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:42.120 there's a third one. I should say. Those first two 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.440 they didn't stick. There was such a public outcry against them. 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.920 The u U s d A repeal them the next month. Um. 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:50.280 But there was a third one that stick that. I 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:56.440 think everybody should be aware of non agricultural products, including seafood, um, 0:08:56.720 --> 0:09:01.040 skin lotion, anything like that. This label organic, the USDA said, 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:03.280 you know what, that's out of her jurisdiction. They can 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:05.320 say they're organic if they want, We're never going to 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:07.640 investigate it. And you know what, this hits home. You 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:10.439 know my wife does. Yeah, she makes her She makes 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:14.600 a fine fine line of health and beauty products and 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:19.360 made all natural, handmade, and she gets her feathers all 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:21.800 riled up all the time because she'll see these companies 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:26.400 tout things like organic when it's completely falls out of 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:29.959 the jurisdiction. And and beyond that, just like a lot 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:33.120 of like huge products, they'll they'll throw things on there 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:37.000 like um all natural and fresh, and there's really no 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.480 way to to back in in and up. Apparently with 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:42.839 light beer to um, you only have only has to 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:45.960 be light in color. Interest has nothing to do with 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:48.079 calories or anything like that, although you're led to believe 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:51.560 it does. So Yeah, that's uh. It definitely hits home. 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:53.959 And I would definitely not be angry if anyone went 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:55.840 to love your MoMA dot com and bought some of her. 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:57.680 I was I was gonna ask, do you that you 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:01.199 have a website to plug? Well, probably shouldn't plug Love 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.000 your Mama dot com because that that would mean money 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.200 in our family's pockets. I know that would stick if 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:08.800 we plugged Love your Mama dot com. Chuck, Let's not 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:13.920 ever do that. Huh. So moving on, Josh, is organic 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:15.800 better for you? That's the one thing they really haven't 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:18.760 been able to prove. No. I actually found a real 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:24.360 dearth of, um of you know, information, like quantifiable information, 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:27.679 hard stats on things like that. Um, it's just an 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:31.960 assumption like, okay, you don't have pesticides, you know, fertilizers. Logically, 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:35.200 pesticides and fertilizers have been shown to uh, you know, 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:39.680 create health problems they can, right, um, And since they're 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:43.679 not there in these certified organic products, then hence these 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:46.720 things should be healthier. But the USDA makes no claims 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:50.080 to this whatsoever. They're just saying, these people followed these steps. 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:54.440 Here's the steps that they followed to become USDA certified. 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:57.679 We've checked it out and we said, yes, this product 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:00.840 is usd A certified. You make you you surmise yourself 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:02.640 whether you want to eat or pay the extra three 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:05.680 dollars for this dozen eggs. Right. I think the deal 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:09.840 is with this, um is they cannot prove any nutritional 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:13.360 value by going organic. What they can say is if 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:16.600 it's organic, what it lacks, um, is probably better for 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.160 you without all the chemicals. But since they can't prove 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:22.319 that it's richer in vitamin C or whatever if it's 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:24.440 grown organically, then they can't. They have to lay off 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:26.319 in that category. Right. And what one of the other 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:29.440 reasons people choose organic obviously is because you get the 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:33.679 impression and it's much more sustainable, right, Um, Like I 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:37.199 think you have to rotate crops, you have to compost 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.520 on site, and these things are good and sustainable. But 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:44.680 again we were talking about big organic. Um. These these 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:48.120 farms are you know, following these processes, but I don't 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.760 know to what degree, just enough to be USD a 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:56.440 certified organic, right, But um, it's still having a huge 0:11:56.520 --> 0:12:01.559 impact on the environment right through what's called food miles. 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:05.200 So the average of food that we eat in the 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:10.200 US I think travels to two thousand miles from where 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:14.320 it's farm to where it's consumed, right, Um, And a 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:17.080 lot of it actually there's there's a huge outcry I 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:22.840 found from researching this against um air transportation. Yeah, because 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:25.640 apparently that is the worst way to fly food. It's 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:29.559 the worst carbon dioxide emitter, it's the it's the worst 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:33.880 way to get food from from the source to you know, destination. 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:37.839 UM so yeah, so again though I looked it up, 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:41.360 I'm like, what's the average, um, what's the average amount 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:43.679 of of C O two that's emitted, you know, per 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:46.760 pound of food or whatever. There's nothing on there. So 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:50.160 all of this stuff surrounding this is all very logical 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:53.160 and intuitive, but there's no hard facts, which I find frustrating. 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:55.880 I have one cool quote, let's hear. This is from 0:12:55.960 --> 0:13:00.559 guy Colombia who's been pioneering local eating for years. The 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:04.000 name is Goosele and his wait, wait, does he just 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:06.920 have one name like share? Actually that's just his last name, 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:10.560 but sure, let's just say that. And goose Ale is 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:14.440 often quoted saying that a strawberry ships from California to 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:17.760 New York requires four hundred and thirty five calories of 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:25.320 fossil fuel, but provides the eater only five calories of nutrition. Nice. 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:27.400 I don't know if it's true or not, but yeah, 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.080 that's I mean, that's the whole question. Do you buy 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:32.480 local or do you buy organic? I know the hundred 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.440 mile diet in U local wore dot com. There's a 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:37.400 big local food movement going on to try and cut 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:39.880 down the greenhouse emissions. Yeah you know much about the 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:44.040 hundred mile diet? Uh? School me? Okay, I know a 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:47.240 little bit. So in two thousand five, this Canadian couple 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:51.680 at Lisa's Smith and J. B. McKinnon. Um, they vowed 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:55.480 to basically only eat local food. Nothing could have come 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:58.080 from more than a hundred miles away. Right, Yeah, cool idea. 0:13:58.280 --> 0:13:59.840 It is a cool idea, and it makes sense. But 0:13:59.880 --> 0:14:02.839 I got the impression from from reading about this that 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:05.000 they had no idea how difficult this was gonna be. 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:08.080 Like they didn't realize that they were like seasons and 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:12.480 then sub seasons and apparently micro seasons. Um. So if 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:14.360 you want cherries in the winter, you could go to 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:16.560 the grocery store and get them, but you can if 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:19.360 you're on this hundred mile diet. Um. They were saying 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:22.040 something like in this f a Q they were saying, 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:24.160 you know, they went without wheat for a really long 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:27.720 time until they finally met a local wheat farmer. And 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:29.920 then they were able to you know, make their own stuff. 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.360 But that part, that's part of it's very It can 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:35.640 be much more expensive because you're buying all the ingredients 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:38.600 rather than a package product that was part of a 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:42.360 run of several thousands, So it's cheaper um. And also 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:45.480 it's just much more difficult and again labor intensive, but 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:48.120 it is a lot more sustainable that you're cut down 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:50.360 on CEO two emissions a hundred miles in that far 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:54.400 as far as food miles goes UM. And also you 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:56.440 you get to know kind of um. One of one 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:59.680 of the reasons they say to eat local is um. 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:04.040 The produce is much fresher, so within twenty four hours, 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:06.880 it's it's it's been picked and you're eating it pretty 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:09.760 much right off of the plant, right um. And you 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:11.760 get to know the people that you're you're buying from 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:15.640 because you're going to a farmer's market pretty much. Well, 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:18.920 let's talk about farmer's market. Let's do it. It's the best. Yeah, 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:21.880 you're a big, big proponent of farmers markets. It's the 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:24.840 best here in Atlanta, as most people now actually indicator, 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:29.120 we have the decab farmers market and I bump into 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:31.800 Jerry there. Sometimes is there a she's a shopper the 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:33.520 air but actually a bunch of people from work I 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.440 see there. But it's the best, man. It's huge. And 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:39.560 the cool thing about the farmer's market is not only 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:43.240 can you choose from organic, but um above every fruit 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.600 and vegetable is a sign that says where it came from, 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:48.160 which is kind of cool. So you know you're getting 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:52.320 your avocados from California or Mexico. And usually each fruit 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:56.120 and vegetable has a couple of choices, and uh, none 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:59.160 of them are very local. Though that's surprisingly because most 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:02.120 farmers markets have a pretty strict rule that it can 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:05.400 only be from that state at least. Well, this is 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:07.440 a little different kind of farmers market. I think most 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.200 of those are the ones that are like a local 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:12.840 farmers market that you'll have on Saturdays only and they'll 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:14.720 set up in a parking lot and the local farmers 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:17.560 come and bring their wares. This is a big, huge 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:21.720 operation that's been around for you know, thirty plus years. Yeah, well, 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:23.680 so it's it's a little different. I know there's a 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:27.840 I think a state subsidized farmers market down by the airport. Yeah, 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:30.800 and I think you could they you can only be 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:33.400 a Georgia grower to participate there. Those are awesome. I 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:34.760 went to one. I used to go to one in 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:36.280 l A when I lived there while they had the 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:39.120 Hollywood Farmers Market, which is awesome. And then I went 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:41.040 to the one closer to where I lived in Eagle Rock. 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:44.080 That uh, same deal. I mean literally, the farmers pull 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:46.480 up their truck and set up their stuff in the crates, 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:48.960 and you know, you chatted up within these guys. You 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:51.480 feel really good about supporting it. Yeah. Apparently I was 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:56.240 reading on them hundred Mile Diet site that there was 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:59.760 a study that found that, um, people at farmers markets 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:04.440 have ten times more conversations than people at the supermarket. Oh, 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:06.240 I'm surprised it's not more than that. Yeah, well, I 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:09.520 mean that actually struck me. I go to supermarkets. I 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.639 don't normally go to farmers markets, but I know, you know, 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:14.800 when I'm there, I'm not there to chat. I'm there 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:18.400 to go buy food, you know. So yeah, that's pretty cool. 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:20.280 I think I'm gonna check the farmer's market out. Yeah, 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:22.080 they're definitely a little more like when I'm at the 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:24.280 the cab farmer's market. You'll be checking out of a 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:26.320 pepper and the lady next so you will just say, 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:29.560 aren't these peppers amazing? Yes? You know you never hear 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:31.919 that at your local grocery store. Is there the heavy, 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:35.600 heavy scent of patuli? Yeah? And then you know, the 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:37.399 lady says that to me, and I say, mind your 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:39.199 own business, lady, I don't need to hear about what 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:41.920 you think about these peppers, And I stomp off. That 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:46.320 sounds like my kind of farmers market, very aggressive, hostile farmers, right. 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.720 You know, uh, should we talk about co ops and 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:54.679 farmer community supported agriculture. Yeah, Well, that's the big thing 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:56.680 about eating local. One of the one of the things 0:17:56.680 --> 0:18:00.119 that proponents always say is you're you're feeding the local economy. Me, 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:03.480 you're creating local jobs, the money's going back into the 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:07.720 local economy, you're helping local farmers. Um. And that's that's 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:11.199 pretty much the opposite of a globalized attitude. Um. But 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.520 still it's okay, I mean to each his own, of course, Chuck. 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:17.280 We always say so if you're into helping the local economy, 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.400 eating local is a really good way to do that, right, 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:21.720 And one of the places where you can go and 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:25.840 really help the local economy is a local food co op, right, 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:29.000 we have one here in Atlanta, Sevenonda and there's actually 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:32.760 um bruhaha going on. I heard about earlier this year. 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:35.879 Apparently the general manager. They changed the charter and the 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:38.439 general manager has a lot of power now and the 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:40.680 board doesn't like some of the choices that he's making 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:44.520 a big struggle. They don't want you know, tropicana non 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:48.440 organic orange tin for sale next to Heinz ketchup that's 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:50.520 not organic either, And you're like, what is this stuff 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:52.800 doing here? This is a local community food co op. 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:55.960 It's been around around for long since the early seventies, 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:59.439 I believe, very cool place. Um but yeah, so food 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:02.560 co ops and I found this very interesting. The top 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:06.280 one food co ops in the US in two thousand 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:11.200 three made a hundred and ten billion dollars and nuts. 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:15.600 That's that's one point one billion dollars apiece. That's insane 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:18.480 to me, it is. I mean, I can't imagine seven 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:20.600 On to making a billion dollars. But I think it's 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:22.440 a pretty good food co op. Right, Yeah, that's a 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:27.040 great one. Pretty interesting. Uh. There's another way to go here, Josh, 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:30.200 which is called a community supported Agriculture c S a 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.840 program and that my friend Debbie in New Jersey actually 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:35.640 is involved in one of these. She writes for our 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:39.399 site and also another plug. She runs a very awesome 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:42.280 blog called freak girl dot com and she is a 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:43.760 member of one of these. And what you do is 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.960 a group of people in a in a community get 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:50.400 together and they prepay a local farmer. Uh, they basically 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:53.480 invest in the farm. And the cool thing is, well, 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:55.600 some people might not think it's cool, it's a drawback. 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:57.600 I think it's cool is you don't know what you're 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:01.040 gonna get. Every two weeks, you'll get a crate of 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:04.320 you'll go pick up a crate of groceries, and you 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:06.359 never know, like if the lettuce is great, you might 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:08.640 get let us, you might get kale, you might get carrots, 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:11.240 and so it just I think it's cool and encourages 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:14.159 people to kind of learn how to cook with new ingredients. 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:17.280 And it's like farm to table. And Debbie thinks it's 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:21.200 really awesome and I trust her. Kid, you know, I've 0:20:21.200 --> 0:20:24.800 got a whole world of food to go explore. Oh yeah, yeah, 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:27.840 And should we talk about whole foods? Real quick? Knock 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:29.920 yourself out, pal, I have another thing too to follow 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:32.399 up with. This is chock full man. Yeah, really, I 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:36.679 wouldn't have thought. Whole Foods, as everyone knows, is a 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:40.440 big grocery store chain that cost a lot of money. 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:42.560 Whole paycheck is what some people call it. It's a 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:47.439 little pricey uh. They a billion dollars a year, Josh, 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:51.040 is what how much produce they sold in two thousand 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:54.320 and six and sixteen point four percent and that came 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:57.680 from local sources, which is up about two percent from 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:00.560 two thousand five and another making in a big effort. 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:02.639 I would imagine in two thousand nine it's even higher 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:05.760 than that. So even these big companies like Whole Foods 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:07.639 are trying to trying to source out local food a 0:21:07.680 --> 0:21:09.800 little more. Well, yeah, people are getting a lot savvyer 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:12.640 these days. I mean, you know the fact that the 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:16.200 FDA's directives were reversed the next month because there's an outcry. 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:19.480 There's a petition online saying leave Michelle Obama alone because 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:22.280 she's farming organic. People have gotten a lot, a lot 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:25.080 savviier and they realized, hey, I'm putting this stuff in 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:28.159 my body, literally, I should probably pay a little more 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:31.159