by Margaret Shauers

Created on: June 20, 2007

If we all lived in temperate climates where locally produced, organic food is available year-round, my vote would have been YES. I live in the middle of the country (Kansas), and for months of the year, this simply isn't possible so far as vegetables and fruit. When I was young enough and had a husband to help me, we had an enormous garden and I canned and froze the surplus. We did eat healthier then. Today, I have a much smaller summer garden. I freeze as much as possible since frozen is the next healthiest thing to fresh. However, even buying extra at farmer's markets from people who I know farm organically is not enough to coast me through the cold and snowing months when only grocery store produce is available.

As for grocery store produce - I go to a health food store when possible, but they don't have everything. I buy some fresh produce during the winter months, but I also lean heavily on packaged frozen foods if I can track where they were grown. Too many import countries use D.D.T. and other chemicals that have been banned here for years. If all else fails, I use canned vegetables and fruits although the sodium and sugar levels usually are outrageously high and unhealthy.

Then there is meat - where one can make a choice in a farm state such as Kansas. The best is home-grown meat where you know exactly what the cow/pig/sheep has eaten. It's really hard to know that about poultry; almost all poultry available is mass-produced. But there are Amish or just good meat packing plants that do track what they take in, and if you're willing to pay a bit extra, they do match you with farmers who aren't feed-lotting their animals and who will tell you what the animals actually eat. Yes, some of these animals are grained, but grain produces natural fat, not chemically-induced weight gain. Grocery store meat usually is questionable so far as health quality.

And then there is wild game. I am not a hunter, but I know a great hunter who supplies me with venison. Venison is a perfect meat - almost no fat, tasteful and wild deer are never fed fillers or force-fed to make them fatten up for market. I personally like the stronger taste of venison, but people who don't can mix it with beef to soften the "wild" taste. Marinading it in wine or other marinade mixes leeches a lot of the wild flavor, too, and also tenderizes the tough muscle meat deer can have since they run and bound on a daily basis. With meat, you can eat healthy with only a little effort. Vegetables? Considering what's available during the winter in cold climates? I may invest in a small greenhouse.

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