How to Make Food Safer

Making Balanced Choices

In view of the various risks and concerns about food, some people today decide to take the time to buy, prepare, and eat more fresh food. If the option appeals to you, seek out stores or markets in your area that sell fresh, untreated commodities. One consumer guide explains: "Many consumers seek contact with the producers-either at weekly markets [where fresh produce is sold] or where the food is produced-so as to buy the items when they are particularly fresh and to get a look at the production of the food and its origin."  This practice may be helpful when buying  meat products.

In a similar vein, it maybe best to purchase local foodstuffs in season, since they may be the healthiest. Realize, however, that if you adhere to such a standard, you will forfeit having a global selection of fruit and vegetables year around.

Should you switch to organic food?  That is a personal decision.Organic food  has many enthusiasts, some no doubt motivated by distrust of new technologies used in the food industry. But not everyone agrees that organic farming offers safer food. 

Whatever your preferences in food, carefully examine what you buy.  "Where food is concerned," laments one expert quoted in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit, "the consumer looks  only at the price." Being price conscious is laudable, but inspect the list of ingredients as well.  It is estimated that nearly half the people buying food in Western lands do not take the time to read the nutritional information printed on labels. Granted, in some lands labeling is not comprehensive. But if you want safe food, then do what you can to examine the ingredients. 

Whatever decisions you make regarding the foods you eat, you will probably need to be willing to bend at times, adapting to the realities of the land in which you live. For many people int his day and age, it is simply impossible -too expensive, too time consuming, too problematic-to make sure that they eat only foods that are verifiably safe in every respect.

Does that strike you as a rather grim assessment of today's world?It is simply  realistic. The good news, however, is that things will soon change for the better. 

Next time: How to Make Food Safe - Safe Food for Everyone

From the AWAKE! magazine, 2001