Sustainable Living Tips by Lee Leffler

Fairfield Iowa Farmer's Market (Photo courtesy of the Fairfield Iowa Visitors and Convention Bureau)

Care2.com, the popular web destination for all things green living, animal welfare,  human rights and more, has partnered with the Local Harvest directory website of all local farms, farmers markets and other local food sources, to sponsor a contest for Farmer’s Markets!  The winning market gets $5,000 and every week a market is drawn at random to win $250.

http://www.care2.com/farmersmarket/4150/?refer=3700.04.1245934465.314460

By Lee M. Leffler

Published in IndZine, the Magazine for the Entire Family! July 1997, page 54-56.

If you care about the food you eat, you need to know how genetic engineering is threatening the quality of your diet. Scientists are altering the genetic code of food crops. These foods are slipping into the food supply without labels, bringing the possibilities of unknown toxins, allergens, and environmental side-effects. When genes from animals are inserted into plants, vegetarians can no longer tell if a vegetable is a vegetable. Without labeling, you have no way of knowing if you are eating such foods. Chances are, you are.

Genetically engineered food is new. The first commercial genetically engineered food, the Flavr Savr tomato, was introduced in 1992. The Flavr Savr tomato was genetically engineered to soften more slowly. Thus, the tomato could stay on the vine an extra week, giving it time to ripen before being shipped.

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Please visit a list of articles by Lee Leffler.

By Lee M. Leffler, The Newsletter Gal (www.newslettergal.com)

Published in Everybody’s News, September 1997, pages 5-6, Fairfield, Iowa.
Revised and Updated June 2009.

Organic food means more than just food grown in harmony with nature, without chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. When you buy organic food, you’re also voting for the health of the earth and the people.

Why do people buy organic food? A sampling of shoppers at Everybody’s Whole Foods Store (Fairfield, Iowa) and farmers at the Fairfield Farmer’s Market (on the Fairfield Town Square) revealed that people who buy organic food care about the quality of their food. They want tasty, nutritious food, free of potentially hazardous residues from pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. They enjoy the better taste, texture and nutrition of organic food, and want to avoid the potential hazards of genetically engineered foods.

No Chemicals

Lugging bags full of fresh organic broccoli, green beans, parsley, cilantro, and tomatoes through Everybody’s checkout, Elinor Hall said, “I don’t want the pesticides poisoning my body. These chemicals aren’t natural. Why would I want to put anything in my body that wasn’t natural when I have a choice?”

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