Senior Project Research Paper. fruits and vegetables at home or in a community garden. This percentage has increased 17% in

Transcription

1 Voigt 1 Emily Voigt Mrs. Chambers Honors Advanced Composition 31 October 2016 Senior Project Research Paper Approximately 42,000,000 households in America (35% of all households) are growing fruits and vegetables at home or in a community garden. This percentage has increased 17% in the last five years (National Gardening Association 1). The increase of households growing their own produce may be driven by several factors. Many believe that homegrown produce is healthier because they can control the soil conditions, use of pesticides, and the length of time allowed for ripening. Others believe store-bought produce is healthier because commercial growers are more attentive to their crops and are motivated by profit to produce the best product. Convenience may play a role in the decision to home-grow or store-buy produce. Consumers who believe that homegrown produce is more nutritious may be willing to sacrifice the perceived nutritional benefit for the convenience of not having to grow a garden. Conversely, consumers who believe that store-bought produce is more nutritious may be willing to sacrifice the perceived nutritional benefit for the convenience of not having to go shopping for produce. Homegrown produce is more beneficial compared to store-bought because it contains more nutrients and flavor. Homegrown produce is also cheaper and has longer time on the vine which can add value to the consumer s health. Homegrown produce is a better option for consumers than store-bought produce because homegrown produce is not artificially ripened. This ripening process is used by large, commercial growers to achieve faster and more uniform ripening characteristics (Siddiqui 1).

2 Voigt 2 Produce that is grown for grocery store distribution has to travel many miles to get to stores, which takes time. To compensate for the time that produce is in distribution, the fruits and vegetables have to be picked well before they are ripe. Then, near the end of the shipping process, the produce is artificially ripened to look presentable to consumers. Even though the produce at the store looks ripe, that is not always case. For example, in the case of bananas, Siddiqui and Dhua say, An artificially ripened fruit would present a yellow outer skin, but the tissue inside would not be ripe or itself remains green and raw (Siddiqui 3). An easy way to tell if the store-bought produce has been artificially ripened is the color of the skin. In the banana example, if the fruit is yellow but the stem is dark green, it has more than likely been ripened artificially. When produce is artificially ripened, it could put human health at risk. Many consumers are unaware that chemically ripened fruits contain traces of arsenic and phosphorus which are hazardous to the human body (Siddiqui 2). Homegrown produce is ripened naturally on the vine and does not contain any chemicals that could be dangerous to humans. Homegrown produce is a better choice for consumers than store-bought produce because homegrown produce is more nutritious than produce that is subjected to being picked by machines before ripeness. When store-bought fruit is picked before being allowed to ripen, it is unable to fully develop its maximum nutrient profile. This premature harvest interrupts the natural ripening process and limits the fruit s ability to develop its full nutrient potential (AeroGrow Worldwide 1). Ripening is a natural process that takes place when the produce is still on the vine. If picked early, the produce does not have the proper time necessary to ripen and develop nutrients. A study done by Lee and Kader determined that tomatoes harvested green have 31% less vitamin C than those allowed to ripen on the vine (AeroGrow Worldwide 1). Many studies have shown a correlation between ripeness and nutrient levels. Growing produce at

3 Voigt 3 home allows the fruit to ripen fully and develop all of its essential nutrients. Mass production also impacts nutrition in produce, making homegrown produce the better option for consumers. Many industrial companies want their produce to be high in quantity and size, thereby maximizing yield and profit. Most of the produce in a grocery store is from large scale commercial growers that have mass produced crops. However, the plants used for mass production start to evolve into weaker fruits. As Stonebrook explains, [the plants] receive a steady input of water and commercial fertilizer at the soil surface, which in turn leads to small, weak root systems on each plant. Because the plant has no need to grow deep roots to access water deeper down in the soil, it doesn t. A plant s root system is where nutrient uptake happens, and a small, weak root system generally equals nutritionally weak fruits (Stonebrook 2). On the other hand, homegrown produce will develop long, deep roots on the plant that will allow the uptake of more nutrients to the fruit. Along with ripening and mass production, harvesting methods also affect the amount of nutrients in produce because homegrown produce have a less chance of bruising. In modern times the mechanical harvesting methods used on most commercial farms are known to have a higher probability of injuring or bruising the produce (AeroGrow Worldwide 2). When fruit becomes damaged, the nutrients can start to decrease and can inhibit the fruit from ripening properly. In a recent study, the vitamin C content in bruised portions of tomato fruits was found to be 15% less than that of non-damaged tomato tissue (AeroGrow Worldwide 2). When buying produce at the store, consumers usually pick the ones with the best appearance. They want the biggest produce with little to no bruises or bad spots. However, when buying store-bought produce, the consumer cannot control the selection provided by the grocery store. Many fruits and vegetables at the store have damage or bruises that have formed during transportation and/or

4 Voigt 4 delivery which could affect their nutritional content. One benefit to growing food at home is that fruit can be harvested carefully, minimizing the damage and maximizing the amount of nutrients available. Homegrown produce is more beneficial than store-bought produce because homegrown fruits and vegetables will save the consumer money. When a person plants a garden, he/she can typically buy a single plant for around three dollars. Once it is planted, there is some minimal cost associated with water and fertilizer. An average single plant of tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, or squash, for example, will yield 30 or more fruit, saving the grower a significant amount of money versus an equal yield of produce purchased at a grocery store. The main reason for the difference in price is, the added expense of shipping increases item costs (Dinstel 2). Because shipping costs play such a factor, produce sold by farmers at local farmer s markets is also usually less expensive. This is, because farmers are directly selling their produce to you, the consumer, they are able to cut out the middleman and charge less than supermarkets (Stellner 1). Without the additional burden of transportation costs, homegrown produce and produce sold directly by farmers at local markets has a huge price advantage over produce sold at a grocery store. Homegrown produce not only saves the consumer in monetary cost, but in nutritional cost as well, which supports a finding that homegrown is the better choice for consumers. When consumers buy store-bought produce, they pay a hidden nutritional cost (consumers give up a certain level of nutritional value which is lost by the produce during transportation). Commercial produce, can travel 1,500 miles or more from farm to table, losing nutrients each day along the way (AeroGrow Worldwide 4). Once fruit is picked off the plant, the nutrients within it begin to steadily decrease. This decrease occurs because even when the fruit is no longer receiving

5 Voigt 5 nutrients from the roots of the plant, it still undergoes cellular respiration. A study done by Ramberg and McAnnelley found that, lettuce loses 46% of some key nutrients within seven days of cold storage and spinach loses 22% of lutein and 18% of beta carotene content after just eight days of cold storage (AeroGrow Worldwide 2). Once the produce is harvested, it spends many days going through handling and transportation most taking longer than eight days. This means the fruit is losing many essential nutrients before reaching the hands of the consumer. Temperature also affects the rate at which the produce loses nutrients. From a consumer standpoint, one would expect then that temperature is tightly controlled in transit, but in reality...that does not always happen (Johnson 2). Each plant differs in optimal temperature, making transportation more complicated. Many fruits and vegetables will be shipped together in one shipment, so the temperature cannot be closely monitored. This evidence establishes that once the produce reaches the store, its price has increased and its nutritional value has decreased. Homegrown produce leaves a smaller environmental footprint compared to store-bought produce because store-bought fruits and vegetables require much more handling. Mass producers will grow a type of produce and use different types of fertilizers in order to maximize yield and profit. These fertilizers contain nitrogen and create a runoff depletion, where the nitrogen will seep into the soil and eventually find its way into a waterway and disrupt an ecosystem. Also, when commercial produce is being harvested, heavy machinery is used, which can harm the environment through engine emissions, large-scale land disturbance, erosion, and habitat loss. The most noticeable effect from commercial growing operations is the reliance on transportation. Trucking and flying in food takes a toll on the environment and on public health (Dinstel 2). Shipping produce by truck pollutes the atmosphere more than other forms of transportation, contributing to global warming, and affecting human health. The California Air Resources

6 Voigt 6 Board estimates 2,400 premature deaths, 2,800 hospital admissions for asthma and approximately 16,870 missed school days were attributable to direct and indirect exposure to diesel pollution from freight transportation activities within the state (Dinstel 2). Of course, a large part of California is home to large-scale commercial farming and these estimates may not be transferrable to other states. Still, the impact is remarkable. Along with effects from pollution, Eleven percent of the energy used in the US food system is spent on transportation. This 11% adds up to over 166 million BTU s of fuel used just on transporting food from farm to table in 2009 (AeroGrow Worldwide 3). Consumers who grow produce at home conserve energy resources and decrease transportation related emissions, contributing to a better environment and public health. Produce grown at home is an all-around better option for consumers compared to produce bought at the store. Homegrown produce bypasses many of the things that degrade the nutritional value of store-bought fruit. Produce handled, packed, and distributed over long distances is more susceptible to damage, which can lead to less nutrition. Also, mass production evolves to less nutritious fruit due to shallow roots that are unable to develop and mature. When produce is grown locally, it is not picked early and artificially ripened, which minimizes the undesirable effects of artificial chemical ripening. Homegrown produce saves people money while increasing, or at least preserving, the nutritional value of the food. The commercial growing operations and transportation network, both required to supply grocery stores with desirable produce, leave a larger environmental footprint than the produce grown in small, personal, or local gardens.

7 Voigt 7 Works Cited AeroGrow Worldwide. "Nutritional Merits of Home Grown Vs. Store Bought Produce." AeroGarden Blog, Paper.pdf. Accessed 10 Oct Dinstel, Roxie. "Eating Locally Grown Produce Is Healthier than Store-bought." The Voice of Interior Alaska, 30 Apr. 2012, Accessed 11 Oct Johnson, Megan. "Health Benefits of Home-Grown Produce." U.S. News and World Report, 30 July 2010, health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/cancer/articles/2010/07/30/healthbenefits-of-home-grown-produce. Accessed 9 Oct National Gardening Association. "Food Gardening in the U.S. at the Highest Levels in More Than a Decade." Learning Library, 2 Apr. 2014, garden.org/learn/articles/view/3819/. Accessed 19 Oct Siddiqui, Md. Wasim, and R. S. Dhua. "Eating Artifically Ripened Fruits Is Harmful." Current Science. Academia, Originally published in Current Science, os, vol. 99, no. 12, 25 Dec Accessed 12 Oct Stellner, Alison. "Benefits of Garden Vegetables." Livestrong, 11 Nov. 2015, Accessed 12 Oct Stonebrook, Shelley. "Why Homegrown Food Is More Nutritious." The Rowdy Radish, 25 June 2013, Accessed 12 Oct