I had the great pleasure to hear Jessica Lundberg from Lundberg Family Farms speak to my class about her family’s farming practices. As consumers, we are not always in touch with how our food is grown. In the media, we hear a lot about fertilizers and pesticides contaminating our environment. While, we hear less about why agricultural inputs are needed and even less about extra steps farmers take to steward their land.
The Lundbergs came to California during the Dust Bowl in 1937. They settled in a small town called Richvale on ground high in clay content; making it ideal for growing rice. Between rice crops, the Lundbergs grow winter cover crops to nourish and enrich the soil. After harvest rice straw in the field is not burned; instead it is incorporated in order to return carbon to the ground and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. During the winter, fields without cover crops are left flooded creating refuge for birds and wildlife.
Next time you go grocery shopping I ask you to think a little more about how your food is grown. We as consumers eat many different products; each from different origins, grown by hard-working people. Each time we make a purchase, we make a choice; even though information we want might not be available.
What type of information about your food do you think is important? Do you think enough information is available? Do you always trust what information you receive?
At our summer and winter solstice celebrations we have used Lundberg basmati rices for many years- Blessings to all.
I want to know if it has allergens such as milk, soy or nuts in it, since i am allergic to milk and soy. If it’s meat or eggs if there’s hormones used. If it’s plants if it’s organically grown or not. Generally i do trust the info if it’s printed in the US, but unfortunately when I go home to HK, I don’t see much of these info on the food labels. Advertising stints are still more prevalent marketing styles than the attraction by simple wholesome qualities of the food in itself.
No , I dont always trust the information on labels . It may partly be true but often the information is misleading. Like it’s “all natural” What does that really mean? That could cover almost anything. Is natural so good for you? Well sugar is natural but not good for diabetics eg. What is in the product? Yes, I certainly like to know esp people with allergies.
I do not always trust what food labels say, even in the United States. I believe much of the words used such as “all natural” or even sometimes “organic” are meant for marketing purposes and do not have enough guidelines as to what that really entitles.