Written by Fatima S Urroz

(Article still in progress – website under construction)

01/07/2022

Farm to table is the way of the future in the wake of new evidence that much of the food we get at big box stores is laced with potentially harmful residue. Consumer Reports recently published an article highlighting the shockingly high levels of toxic residue found in common cooking spices like paprika, oregano and more. Another report published by the National Institutes of Health finds that microplastics are contaminating food at an alarming rate, potentially making even “healthy” foods harmful. Since the 1960’s, the environmental movement has seen these potential impacts coming our way, but like climate change, perhaps nobody would have imagined how quickly mass production and nonuniform policy across international lines has led to an uncontrolled and deregulated food market economy that prioritizes cheap production practices and the ability to offer any produce any season (particularly in developed nations) over food safety practices to protect public health.