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Avoiding the asylum

Ilze Dreyer wonders why you suddenly need a degree in environmental studies and a diploma in nutrition to buy groceries for a week.

Yesterday I was standing in the grocery store waiting for a lady to pick some eggs. She turned around and said, "Geez like it – what should I choose free range, canola or grain fed?"

"Geez like it" indeed!

I had to agree with her. Even buying a simple loaf of bread has become a 10 minute affair scanning a wall of bread from low GI, reinforced vitamins, cracked wheat, soya, lentil and crushed wheat and they come in so many shapes and sizes... so make that a double "Geez like it"!

Add that you now also have to consider if your food was produced in an ethical way. If it's not seasonal and local then the paw-paw or pumpkin you're eating has left a nasty carbon footprint all the way from Guatemala to Grahamstown. And if you thought fish was safe, guess again. Before you tuck into a delicious piece of sole or kingklip – remember both are on SASSI's (Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative) watch list as types of fish that are on the brink of being overfished.

Eish... Suddenly it seems that you need a degree in environmental studies and a diploma in nutrition to buy groceries for a week.

On top of that everyone and their uncle are trying to stick a green label on their products and in the process they are just confusing us more.

And if start you wondering about the concept of stressed produce, genetically modified seeds and the influence of pesticides and hormones on your food – well it's time to book your ticket to the nearest asylum for the food petrified. Oh, and remember to take along your own 5kg bag of beans and lentils for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.

What has happened to food glorious food?

It just feels like we are over-processing food in a completely new way and taking away all the comfort, enjoyment of flavours, textures and combinations from it.

I always think of a scene in Antonia's Line, a lovely Dutch movie, where Antonia's gypsy-esque family had these lush farm lunches. Bowls of delicious dishes were passed around with love while they tore chunks of bread from a huge loaf dipping it in mouth-watering sauces and dishes while swallowing it down with large swigs of wine.

That, for me is, the joy of food. A blissful enjoyment of the people around you heightened by delicious flavours and textures all culminating in a warm comforting feeling that shoots up from your belly straight to your heart – in a good way. Of course it helps that all the food came from her own farm and was probably organic to start with. Sigh...

So where does that leave us? We're obviously living in a time where we need to think about what we eat. But hell, I still want to be able to eat without brain gymnastics or guilt.

So here are my five pointers to avoid the asylum.

Walk – before you get into your car to drive three blocks to buy milk, why not walk? It's good for you, saves you money and hey... you did you bit for the ozone layer as well.

What you are doing to avoid the food-petrified asylum

Ilze Dreyer is the deputy editor of Food24 and has not yet seen the inside of the food-pretrified asylum.

story by Food24: Ilze Dreyer
image by Getty

Plastic Bags You have touched on one of my pet hates! People, and South Africans in particular, who keep on buying millions of plastic bags when everyone knows it is bad for our planet. I suppose it is too "non-u" to be seen bringing your own plastic bag - it indicates that you are too poor / too mean / too stingy to buy a new one. And as for the macho SA man: he would rather die than come into a shop carrying a 'used' plastic bag. Perhaps we can have 'recycled plastic bag bins' at the supermarket. (Might not go down well with management). Fact is, our S A "plastic bag culture" needs to be changed ! - Tanneke   Eco-eating tips The term "local is lekker" is something I've started using in terms of shopping - I buy as little imported goods as is possible. I don't need kiwi fruit even though I really like it so that's off the shopping list. I'm waiting patiently for the day that supermarkets here in Durban start stocking Olives and Olive Oil from the Cape. The more we buy locally the smaller the carbon footprint and we're supporting our local producers at the same time. - Trevor   My Tips I find it difficult to be totally environment friendly, but as much as possible follow my conscience. Eggs: Truly free range & bought from a colleague, who has a mother-in-law on a farm nearby. The chickens walk around free and lay their eggs where they want. Apparently a chicken chooses the same spot over & over, so it is easy to find the eggs. We return our cartons for refill. Costs R1 per egg. Not bad. Chickens: Also free range on a nearby farm. Are slaughtered on the farm and therefore do not have to travel all stressed and bruised to a slaughter house. Cleaned and frozen on the farm and delivered to a central point in out 'dorp' every 2 weeks. Fruit & veg: Buy in season. Look forward to when the Calitzdorp farmers have their stall in Mossel Bay. They sell fresh veg, spanspek, peaches, grapes and freshly baked home goodies as well as preserves. Have own veg in season in back yard. Dairy: Fair Cape Dairy near Cape Town has a truly eco-friendly system going. Free range cows, not fed with artificial hormones to enhance production. This means that the cows do not end up suffering from broken bones due to calcium deficiency later in life. (Check their credentials, it looks really good.). Scarab market near Sedgefield: A monthly outing to buy really good quality produce. Highly recommended. There are ways to improve your nutrition and be 'friendly'. My biggest carbon footprint, I reckon, is my Swiss Chocolate. So we all sin???? - Annemarie   Keep it coming You are absolutely right about the mind boggling options available to the shopper in South Africa. Forget about worrying about the eco/enviro choices - we are from Zimbabwe and I actually get palpitations when faced by the varieties/flavours/textures/fat and thin options - it is never ending, scary and........... absolutely fabulous! - Gail   Looks and smells fresh If it looks, smell and taste naturally, it most likely is something nature meant for us to eat and enjoy. I like the tip on buying bread, you will find it is true for a lot of other products as well. I like to buy with my nose and eyes, can't read the fine print without my glasses anyway. - Eddie   delaying the insanity My approach to "delaying the insanity" is: 1. Make my own meals. None of the "quick-meals", fast food, meals-for-one/two/four, or whatever. At least I know what is going into it. 2. Buy fresh produce as far as is possible, but small quantities at a time. It's not special trips as I pass the shop on the way home, but with smaller quantities you vary more often and food prep remains "fun". 3. Meat direct from the butcher - at least you can pop it into a bag and not have 2 polystyrene trays and 300m of shrink wrap around it. Trying a sun-oven at moment - but still a way to go. I guess winter is not helping matters... :-) - Douglas   carbon footprint Does anyone know how many tonnes of fuel the Travolta's burn cruising around the world in their Jet for pleasure. Makes me laugh. There's no way we can offset the damage being done by a few. - bob   Buy Halaal If you buy halaal food, its the nearest thing to having food on a farm, fresh and wholesome. Something to do with the frequencies generated when praying and slaughtering, reduces stress and translates to pure and wholesome. - Jeeves   Carbon Footprints and Food How come only food is attracting this attention re Carbon Footprints - what about the Package Holiday Industry, Formula 1 - and many, many more. Once again the people who live closest to the land (the farmers) are getting nailed and all the Luxury Industries which have the biggest Carbon Footprints are not getting so much as a mention!!! - Michael   Choices Michael. Good point. All activities, sport, mining, manufacture, holiday have a carbon output. ASK THE MANUFACTURE/SUPPLIER for more info on the carbon footprint and other effects as well as the carbon off-set/saving program. Take every opportunity to choose the "better" option and tell someone why you do it. The check-list in the article is a good way to go about making choices. - Lou   re carbon footprint, packaging I don't know about that, bob. There must be billions more ordinary sort of people than jet-owning celebrity types in the world. The difference each person makes for good or bad may not be much, but multiply that by however many of "us" there are...? About packaging: One can sometimes re-use the plastic wrap from vegetable trays. Wonder how many of those trays I throw away in a week, though. Can't think of any use for them. - BB   Farmer's Markets Are there any farmer's markets around Jhb as we see on TV in Britain and Canada? I would love to be able to buy fresh produce - the only place I know of is the Organic market in Bryanston - Lyn   Plastic bags Hey why not paper bags - I know they have a carbon footprint but at least you don't have a disposable problem and we are saving foreign currency. Recycle plastic bins at supermarkets - a great idea am going to push for it in my area. - Bruce Cameron   Recycling I live on the east Rand and run a small business from home ... I recycle all my paper and boxes, have a worm farm and am starting an organic vegie patch. BUT the packaging I throw away is a sin - no one collects plastic or tin in our area - is there not an entrepreneur out there that would service households in Benoni, collecting plastic etc for recycling? - Michelle       Name Email Subject Comment