The average grocery store's produce is about a week old before it is available for sale in the store.
Let me rephrase that: Those leafy greens which you're eating in the "Fresh Produce" section are at LEAST a week old, but could even be three weeks old at higher end grocery stores. On average they've traveled 1,500 miles to reach your grocery store. They've been touched and transported by dozens of people, and likely have been picked up by bunches (statistical term) of customers wondering if it's still "fresh". Do I need to bring up the gross things which customers accidentally can do to produce just sitting out in the air? You don't think the sneeze guard at a salad bar is there for decoration, do you?
But let's get real and talk about the state of my produce. In my home state of Colorado, leafy greens travel from countries like Mexico, Canada, Guatemala, Peru, Israel, Chile, and the Netherlands to reach me. In 2009 alone, the US imported over 115 million dollars worth of lettuce from these countries, with 95% of it being Iceberg Lettuce which has about the same amount of nutrients as a candy bar. I'm left with a few questions, one of which is "Why?". Why go through all this hassle just to get something which is flavorless and lacks nutrition?
When "fresh" produce takes a week on average to get to the grocery store, what does fresh really mean? Am I really expected to believe that the "mister" on top of the produce keeps it fresh? I can put a saddle on a dead horse, but that isn't going to make it ridable, so am I expected to believe that just because my lettuce is wet, somehow its fresh and still growing weeks after it's been picked? Let's get real, what word do we use for fresh when it's actually fresh? We can't just keep putting the word "ultra" in front of words to mean what they should already mean. Ultra-local, ultra-fresh, ultra-valuable, ultra-sustainable--this is a getting ultra-out-of-control. If organic has to be USDA approved as organic, when will be ask farmers to keep to the same standard of "Fresh". I've even seen fast food campaigns using the word now. That's almost as ridiculous as cigarette campaign using the word "healthy".
My rule for buying fresh produce is simple: It's fresh if I can buy it the same day it's picked at peak ripeness. Simple. This is how we historically have eaten over the years. Our ancestors all the way back to when we were hunters and gatherers ate this way: they saw fruit hanging on a tree, they picked it, and then ate it. Simple. They reached down to the ground and pulled up fresh lettuce, and didn't wait a week to eat it, but ate it within a few hours after being harvested. It's not rocket science; this is caveman behavior. So why is it nearly impossible for me to go to the store these days in the 21st century and get the same level of fresh produce that people enjoyed in 100,000 BC before they had doors and windows in their caves?
Are ancient standards of freshness too high for the 21st century? When did access to running water, electricity, flight, plumbing, and the internet prevent us from eating fresh leafy greens? Shouldn't we have technology which makes it possible for us to grow healthy produce and distribute it to people while it's still fresh?
The truth is, fresh produce is possible. All we have to do is want it, and it almost magically appears at our front doors.
Here are some of my reasons for wanting fresh produce:
1) It tastes better. The fresher produce is, the tastier we think it is. Unlike good wine, produce doesn't get better with age.
2) Fresh produce encourages local farms. You can't provide fresh leafy greens from around the world. If it's going to be fresh, it's going to have to be local.
3) Fresh produce decreases emissions. Grocery store refrigerators and freezers which slow down the process of food decomposing are the largest single cause of a store's greenhouse gas emissions and their biggest source of energy expenditures. Not to mention the emissions caused by the various vehicles that bring produce from far away.
4) Nutritionally, leafy greens begin to lose vitamins and nutrients as soon as they are picked.
5) Inexpensive fresh produce changes the food system. It provides people with a reasonable alternative from unhealthy processed food which is a major cause of obesity.
It's the 21st century, it's time we wake back up to eating fresh local food.
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