What I love about visiting small countries – especially ones that have tropical climates, is eating the freshest produce possible. The warm weather allows for crops to grow all year round. It’s pretty amazing to purchase produce that was literally picked a few hours earlier! These fruits I purchased didn’t look perfect. They weren’t flawless. I noticed that their shelf life was also much shorter than that of the produce I purchase at home. However, they were tasty and more importantly very natural!

When you stop and think about how far some of our favourite fruits and veggies have to travel before they reach our grocery stores and more so our tables, it’s pretty disappointing. We live, (materialistically speaking) very rich lives. But for some reason, when it comes to the quality of food we ingest, we seem to be okay with settling for very poor quality. Ideally, we should only be eating foods that are in-season and locally grown. Unfortunately, when living in colder climates, you are forced to purchase mostly imported foods. While these tropical countries live rather poorly, they have the luxury of enjoying the freshest food possible all year round.

Most of us don’t own a farm, and many of us are too busy to maintain a garden and so produce is almost always purchased. The problem is that a lot of people tend to purchase these fruits and veggies without ever really considering where they come from or how they were grown. Most of the fruit and vegetables we consume here in Canada are from Mexico, China or the United States. Apart from being genetically modified and filled with pesticides, they are also fumigated in order to prevent spoilage during its travels. We are living in a time where there is a divide in our food industry. There are now two categories in your local grocery store; the generic produce and the organic one. Many people don’t really know what to buy or more so if they should even “believe” in the organic label. It is important to take an interest in educating yourself on what food you are buying and feeding your families.

While it’s convenient to not have to spit out seeds when eating a juicy slice of watermelon, it was refreshing to eat a REAL seeded melon on my vacation. Most of our favourite fruits have now been modified to be seedless and are sprayed with chemical pesticides. These chemicals are harmful to our body and so we shouldn’t be taking this too lightly. Many illnesses and learning disabilities have been linked to pesticide accumulation. Pesticides are especially dangerous for growing children because they tend to eat more food in ratio to their body-mass. Children love fruit and tend to eat a lot of it, so be sure to purchase the best quality possible.

We can argue that without pesticides or genetic modification, there wouldn’t be enough food for our worlds growing population. This mass production of genetically modified produce has helped to feed millions of people. However, what good is that to us if in the end it makes us ill and creates further health issues that we can only try to overcome with more toxic chemicals! We are now given a choice to purchase organic, or better yet, buy from our local farmers market. I think it’s worth the extra effort to save us from ingesting this new chemical concoction of what appears to be real food. Next time you’re grocery shopping consider buying organic. You will notice that the fruits and veggies are smaller, maybe not as bright and certainly filled with seeds. When shopping, choose local, organic food first. If you must buy imported, always look for the organic label. Organic food is usually stamped and the sku number begins with a 9. Look for the USDA Organic or Canada Organic symbols. I recommend choosing organic because otherwise you’re choosing a modified version that is sprayed with synthetic pesticides and herbicides. To be clear, organic food is sprayed as well, but the sprays are plant derived and the actual seed is organic as well.

We may be living more lavishly then some of these small, underdeveloped countries, but they are definitely eating way better food than we are in terms of freshness and quality. Ultimately, our health is dependent on three things: genetics, environment and food. We cannot control everything, but we are privileged to be able to control what we buy. I think wealth has a different meaning for everyone, but as the saying goes “your health is your wealth” and that is still the one that means most to me.