Know Your Food
I ‘m having fun watching the Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness initiative share some great New Year’s Resolution posters. My latest favorite is ‘Know Your Food’ www.iowafreshfood.com This program emphasizes buy fresh buy local. Did you know that 90% of Iowan’s food travels 1500 miles before it gets to our table!! That’s not very local, it seems to me! Also, kids are more likely to eat the things they grow. This help them know where their food really comes from, not just think it comes from the grocery store. Our nutrition educators tell me that children in our school programs don’t know that milk comes from cows, eggs come from real chickens, bread is made from wheat seeds, and bacon comes from pigs. However, you will be excited to learn that the kids in the Immersion in Wellness camp last summer DO know their food. Consider sending your children, nieces, nephews or grandchildren to a 4-H camp this summer!
Think about your meals in the last week. Do you know your food and where it comes from? My family is enjoying venison this winter born wild near our home. I probably saw the doe as a fawn a few years ago. She would have eaten acorns, corn and birdseed (from our birdfeeders!) as well as lots of vegetation in the wooded area and the yards in our neighborhood. I tried to grow broccoli and brussel sprouts last summer and now have a much greater appreciation for how long it takes to grow, keep the bugs out, share with the deer and when to harvest it so it is just the way we like it!
What do you know about YOUR food? Tell us about it at the Eco Family Blog http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily
Kristi
Support for local foods is growing all over the country. More opportunities to know your food–year round farmer’s markets are starting to pop up even in small towns. Of course eating the venison that you may have seen eating your birdseed, puts a new spin on know your food. I can share a story about my daughter and her 4-H chickens some time.
I love this push to buy local! I am just finishing up college and returning to the area. I must say after eating from a campus cafeteria for 3.5 years, I am so ready to eat some fresh fruits, veggies, and meats. You mentioned the some program offerings for kids to get more involved with this movement, but what about the program offerings for adults?
My salmon tonight for supper was from China – argh! I’m going to start watching labels more closely.
I checked the tilapia package – it wasw from CHina too!! I will be on the lookout for fish from closer to home, too!