Bananas: not local?

[Stella Green]

Okay, I just have to get this off my chest.

I know we all eat lots and lots of bananas and that they are super good for us, but...do you ever feel a twinge squeamish about the fact that they aren't locally grown? About how taxing it is on the environment to ship them to our doorstep?

The thought process stems from the fact that I feel heartsick anytime I see advertisements for acai berry. The acai berry might be the best superfood out there, but the truth is that it comes from the Amazon rain forest, and I really don't like buying something that supports robbing the rain forest of yet another product for American consumption. Then I started to think about the banana.

I haven't been eating any bananas lately because I've been living off soley the produce at my farmer's market. And the reason why they don't have bananas is because they aren't locally grown. There's so much fun produce out there, and oranges and cabbage give you enough potassium that bananas are not essential.

I'm not saying don't eat bananas; I in fact will probably eat bananas for the rest of my life. I just wanted to throw out some thoughts in regards to locally grown and eating in terms of environmental consciousness. It's a big issue that's difficult, especially as the weather gets colder and fruits and veggies start coming from everywhere else except your backyard.

[Dimond]

Even living in a warm climate, practically all fruit is imported here. It's annoying, but not much I can do because it would require either going completely out of my way to buy food (possibly more than 1 location) or giving up most fruits, including my favorite. Even going to these other locations doesn't guarantee they're local as some of these farms/markets also get most imported. It's actually kind of crazy with all the produce trees in this state. :confused: Seriously there are mango trees all over, but I rarely get them local unless I'm lucky enough to find someone who gives them to me. (free mangos!!) The winter here is a bit better than other areas, but only because they get imported. I am just grateful to have access to organic produce at all, so I try not to think much about it. I hope someday to live where either myself or close family/friends are growing our own.

[Revvell]

Try living in a cold country where most food has to be imported in the winter and in many areas, all year 'round.

I for one, don't eat "lots and lots" of bananas but only because they're not my favorite fruit. There are so many other options.

We do what we can. Consciousness and awareness of the environment is great but not at the expense of guilt.... or is it the other way around? lol

~ Revvell `

[rawlight]

I haven't been eating any bananas lately because I've been living off soley the produce at my farmer's market. And the reason why they don't have bananas is because they aren't locally grown. There's so much fun produce out there, and oranges and cabbage give you enough potassium that bananas are not essential.

I think it's important to have this consciousness, because among other things, it asks you to think differently about what you eat and how it got to your store! I also think it asks you to look around for alternatives that you might not have thought of before if you eat locally. That means if something isn't in season you might try something else, instead of your old standby. And this is the tack I take. I go to the farmer's market as much as I can and when I want the occasional banana (it's not a big part of my diet) or mango I go to Whole Foods or Mother's Market.

I had this epiphany last year and it had a big effect on me: maybe we're not supposed to eat tomatoes all year round if they don't grow in our region? And what I like about eating locally is that I feel more in tune with what is around me and I understand growing seasons for food much better. It is almost a spiritual practice to indulge in and then let go of the different foods as they come onto the tables at the farmer's markets. I am still experimenting with this, but I am liking its effect on me, so far!

And the 'super food' thing? In my book, it's overrated and ways for people to make money. Eating "super food" is eating the most stupendous food you can find locally. That's true Super Food!! :D

[GlimR]

I think I should live consciously...one has to choose their battles. You def. have a point....for me, I am grateful to be able to buy what is freshest and organic...to be able to eat foods from a broad range. In an ideal world I could grow and harvest all my own food year round...but I do not live in an ideal world...so I do the best I can~:)

[Revvell]

And the 'super food' thing? In my book, it's overrated and ways for people to make money. Eating "super food" is eating the most stupendous food you can find locally. That's true Super Food!! :D

Nod,nod,nod. :)

[RawKnitster]

I've shared that thought. I decided if that is the case, then where do we draw the line? 100 miles? 500 miles? The same continent? Living in the Pacific Northwest I wouldn't have anything to eat 6 months out of the year unless it was fermented or frozen, and that doesn't seem natural either.

Living in this time allows all options open to us. I embrace it all, local and global, and whenever possible buy items brought to me by fair trade.

[klomasius]

It's good to be mindful of the history of where our food comes from, how it got there and what impact it has on our planet.

But just to put things into perspective (and I harp on this a little, I know) eating down the food chain is actually a far more effective way of lowering our impact on the environment than eating locally.

I'm definitely not saying don't buy local, much of my food is produced locally, I can even see how many miles it has come to get to the market that I shop at (and sometimes I'm looking at the garden it was grown in as I shop!). And I'll buy food grown in my own country over another country as well as the more local of the choices.

But when it comes to exotic fruits (most of those that I buy are still produced in my own country) and the imported raw products I buy (that don't make up a lot of my grocery list) I don't worry too much because of all the other actions I take that dramatically reduce my impact.

It's well known that a vegetarian diet has less of an impact on the environment than a typical (even unprocessed) western meat based diet, a vegan diet has even less of an impact than a vegetarian diet and a raw vegan diet even less than the vegan.

Being raw and vegan means we use FAR less packaging, most if not all of our food is unprocessed (makes a massive difference impact wise) and many of us are able to, and choose to, buy much of our foods locally.

Dogmatically following the 'buy local' mantra without giving a thought to just exactly what it is you are buying often means that someone who buys all local will have more of an impact than someone who buys both local and imported and is a raw vegan.

For instance, locally produced meat and dairy, even if it's grown right over the fence from where you buy it will still have a massive impact on the environment as the cow burps and farts 30 litres of methane into the atmosphere each day, erodes the soil with it's hooves and often has to be fed specially grown grains (which are often imported) which could be fed directly to humans in order to reduce environmental impact).

A sensible mix of eating lower down the food chain, buying local where possible and using less processed, packaged foods is a good way to approach the issue, without giving up those things you love.

It's up to the individual, but I wouldn't overly worry about imported fruits. No one I know who eats MacDonalds worries about the environmental impact it has on the planet and it's orders of magnitude worse!

[SevenKindsOfCookie]

I know we all eat lots and lots of bananas and that they are super good for us, but...do you ever feel a twinge squeamish about the fact that they aren't locally grown? About how taxing it is on the environment to ship them to our doorstep?

Living in a country where very few kinds of fruit grow and the season is very short, this is on my mind all the time. Not just with bananas but with a lot of produce.

I have actually tried to live off only local raw food for a while, and while it might be possible to survive that way, I simply don't think that it would be the healthiest option in the long run.
I've been considering moving to a warmer climate to be able to grow a larger variety of food all year round. But at the same time, I love Sweden in so many other ways.
Is it sane to move to another country just for the food? :)

[sport]

I mostly eat bananas, mangoes, papayas and melons. This is my diet. If I can not buy it here then I will have to move to where I can grow it but I can buy it here so I can stay.
So I think that the problem is with where we live and not with what we eat. We evolved as a species in areas where these things grew and that is our natural food. We have only been able to leave these areas as a result of eating meat but we now have the luxury of being able to eat our natural diet again.
It takes less energy to get me produce grown naturally in Ghana than to grow the same produce in Europe in a heated glass house.

[SevenKindsOfCookie]

So I think that the problem is with where we live and not with what we eat. We evolved as a species in areas where these things grew and that is our natural food. We have only been able to leave these areas as a result of eating meat but we now have the luxury of being able to eat our natural diet again.

It's still very far from our "natural diet" though. There's such a huge difference in nutritional content between fresh local wild fruit and shipped cultivated fruit.
Eating fresh local cultivated fruit is surely one step in the right direction though.

I believe that one of the reasons why most of the people who succeed at eating a fruit heavy diet in the long run are the ones who live in a climate where they grow locally. All the testimonies I've heard from fruitarians who has moved to a tropical climate has proven to me that it makes a huge difference in health. I think that it both has to do with the food and the climate, which is more natural for humans to live in.

I think that it's also worth looking at where our food once came from to determine how "natural" the food really is. Let's take the fruits you listed for example.

http://www.natureproducts.net/Forest_Products/Trees/Mangifera%20sylvatica.jpg
Forest mango (Mangifera sylvatica) Originates from China. Similar to the cultivated varieties in shape only much smaller. They are however sour like a lemon, not sweet like were used to.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DtTZ6HvuN9Y/S_QEOIU8Q2I/AAAAAAAAAZ4/aBiMPfW7v3E/s400/banana-wild.jpg
Wild banana (Musa balbisiana) Originates from Southeast Asia. Considered inedible because of the seed content.

http://www.yucatanadventure.com.mx/images/Bonete-fruit.jpg
Wild papaya (Jacaratia mexicana) Originates from Mexico. An edible fruit similar to the cultivated papaya in both flavor and texture but much more nutrient dense.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c9/Citron.melon.jpg
Tsamma melon (Citrullus lanatus) Originates from Namibia and is believed to be the original water melon. It is hard, bitter and almost inedible in its raw state.

So not only are the fruits we eat today very different from the original wild varieties, which in many cases are considered inedible. But they also originate from wildly different parts of the world. And who knows long they have been around for?