A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be invited to go on a #farmfoodtour sponsored by the Kansas Farm Bureau and Kansas Soybean. It was AMAZING! For a city girl – I was nervous of course! Frankly I’m not what you would call an outdoors-person (yes, that’s me wearing white pants on a farm)! I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I had this opportunity.  As a trained chef, avid foodie – eater, reader and writer – I thought I had a good grasp on where our food comes from, the good, bad and ugly – Boy, was I wrong!

As you can see from the map of Kansas – we went EVERYWHERE!!!

Here are some of the lessons I learned during this tour that I feel are of most value to you and me. It might just change the way you think of where your food comes from BUT also help you make more educated decisions when it comes to how you spend your food budget.  It has changed my shopping habits and I’m actually saving a bit more money!

My disclaimer – I’m learning. I’m not an expert.  Actually this trip has taught me that I have a lot more to learn about foods. I’m sharing with you what I learned. If you have questions – let’s chat about it.  I’m pretty sure I won’t know the answers but I’m happy to ask the questions and we can keep learning together.

Most Important Lesson I Learned – Don’t Make Your Food Buying Purchases Based on Food Fear! 

I’m ashamed to say I’ve been a bit biased about my buying choices – grass-fed, organic, no antibiotics, etc because I thought they were better, healthier.  These choices were made with good intentions and a generous dose of mommy-fear but not the most educated choices. You can’t just read labels anymore – you have to understand what these labels mean.  What’s being marketed to you (via food fear) and what’s actual fact!

Example of My Thoughts: Eating grass-fed beef is so much healthier for my family because we are getting more Omega-3.

True- you are in fact you are getting more Omega-3 but the amount in beef is so small that it’s almost negligent.  Grass-fed Beef has about 4% Omega-3 in its fatty acid profile while Grain-Finished (most commonly found) Beef has about 1% Omega-3  in its fatty acid profile.  It’s a tiny, trace amount! The American Heart Association recommends fatty fish such as salmon as the primary source for omega-3 fatty acids.

And grass-fed beef has a bigger carbon footprint than normal beef does as it takes almost a year longer to raise – more grass, more feed, more water, etc.

Lesson for Me: I’m spending more buying grass-fed beef and I don’t even like the way it tastes!!!  All because I thought I was loading up on healthy Omega-3. I’m not saying don’t buy grass-fed beef, but I am saying I’m not because the reasons why I was buying and eating it are not valid!

You Can’t Just Read Labels – You Need to Understand Them!

There are so many “hot” food terms floating around that worry us.  GMO, non-GMO, Gluten-Free, Antibiotic free, Hormone-free, etc. Do these terms describe what your food is? Yes and no.

You might be surprised to know (I was!) there are only eight (8) genetically modified crops commercially available in the United States! That’s right – 8!!!! And yet there’s a large amount of foods that we are paying more money for simply because they say “non-GMO”.

Here’s the list of 8 GMO crops available to purchase.  The choice is yours – you can buy them or opt for their non-GMO counterpart! But you don’t have to spend $2 more for lettuce that’s labeled non-GMO anymore. (Yeah, I’m sure I’ve done it!).  Click on the image below to learn more about each GM food.

Source: http://www.bestfoodfacts.org/food-for-thought/what-foods-are-gmo

Lesson for Me: I’ll be honest – I’m still not sure I know where I stand on GMO crops BUT I do know that I feel “bamboozled” by the media. There wasn’t a farmer on this trip that didn’t speak highly of what they are now able to do because of the advancement in farming technology – including GMOs. There are a few quotes that have been repeating in my head since this trip and now I’m on a mission to understand GMO and it’s place in our world better than just falling for the food fear hype that is broadcasted everywhere.

“Our #1 Goal as farmers is to leave the land better than we found it.”

“Monsanto is to farmers, What Apple is to consumers!” (technologically speaking)

“More Scientists believe that GMOs are safe than there are scientists that believe man has caused global warning.”

“If you are against GMO – you are FOR worldwide hunger.”

Learning from the source has broadened my perspective!

Each day on this trip, I was humbled by the care and detail these farmers and their families put into making sure we have the opportunity to eat good food.