What's On My Food?

Above, two boxes of strawberries. On the left, the berries grown in my brother’s yard. On the right, berries from the farmer’s market in Amherst. Both varieties were full of flavor and pesticide-free. Now, the next time you are at the store check out the berries not labeled organic and packaged in plastic by a company whose name begins with D. They are huge and flavorless and, no doubt, laden with pesticides. I discovered a new site which I would like to pass along: What’s on my Food? Take a look. If enough people start paying attention and speak up, perhaps the folly of pesticide-laden foods will end. (This spring a Harvard study linked ADHD to organophosphate pesticide exposure.)

People across America are realizing the benefit of local food, grown in community gardens. Perhaps the urge to eat organic is why a community garden was started last year here in Wellfleet, located beside the Senior Center? Preservation Hall is holding its annual garden tour this Sunday, and the tour ends at the Community Garden, after informal visits to four other Wellfleet gardens. Preservation Hall events are always worth attending. The tour starts at noon and continues all afternoon. Tickets can be purchased online. (Here Sven sits in the flower garden at Chez Sven. Who knows? Perhaps one day it, too, will be on the Preservation Hall garden tour?) Finally, on June 29 Slow Food Cape Cod will show Fresh by Ana Sofia Joanes at Main Street Gourmet in Orleans, 7 pm. Organizer Mary DeBartelo asks that we all think about this question: where do you buy your food and how do you make your purchase decisions. To reserve for the screening and potluck, contact Mary at Main Street Gourmet.