From Guest Blogger Diana Smith: Benefits of Food Sustainability

Sustainable food, as a notion, is a mystery to many people. What exactly falls under the category of sustainable food? What are the processes of growing such produce that makes it better or healthier? “Sustainable” has become a loaded buzzword with mostly positive connotations and when added as a prefix to “food”, it usually serves as a seal of guarantee that the food has been grown and prepared in a way that is eco-friendly. However, there is so much more to it than that, so if you want to learn more about this, here are the benefits of food sustainability.

The state of things

The world hunger used to be one of the greatest fears of mankind, the type of looming threat that invoked apocalyptic imagery as well as shocking facts and figures. However, deep into the second decade of the twenty-first century, the fears of world hunger are mostly dispelled. When mankind finds itself in front of insurmountable obstacles, this grand collective of homo sapiens finds a way out.

The major advances in the realm of biology and agricultural science have brought us numerous ingenious methods to increase food production in a way that is befit of science fiction books. However, you cannot get something for nothing and there are glaring downsides to these methods – they often have to employ the usage of pesticides, heavily modified food and crops covered in various chemicals. This is not a sort of problem that is easy to avoid – due to the hyperproduction, we are all “exposed” to such foods on daily basis.

What exactly is sustainable food and agriculture?

This is where sustainable architecture comes in. It is predominantly defined as the method of production of both plants and animal products which is eco and human friendly. The point is to “go back” to tried and true methods of old and find the most efficient ways to produce food without destroying the immediate biome. While such foods are often much more expensive than their industry produced counterparts, the health benefits due to their nutritious value is, without a doubt, their greatest selling point.

Thankfully, sustainable agriculture is not merely a passing fad – slowly but surely, more people are waking up to the benefits of food produced in such a way and they are actually eager to pay an extra dime for a higher quality meal. This is why many restaurants and other establishments involved in food production and trade opt to find the best sustainable food on the market.

The surprising and positive benefits

While health benefits of sustainable food are undeniable, they are not the only upside of introducing such nutritious bombs into your diet. In fact, if you take production into your own hands (which is the easiest way to trust what you are eating) the benefits are actually numerous.

Food production and gardening used to be a communal effort and now it is heavily industrialized. Once upon a time, people (neighbors and families) had to band together to grow crops in the communal garden. This meant that they would not only become more skillful with their hands – these activities would also have a social aspect to them. This is how all generations banded together to establish rapport and develop relationships, plus there is hardly a better reward for a hard day of work in the field than eating what you have produced yourself. Additionally, as you become more skillful at producing your own food, you are also becoming self-sufficient. This means that, should push come to shove, you will not have to rely on anyone for help in the case of a disaster. Finally, and let’s be completely honest about it, the food produce through sustainable, organic methods is simply so much tastier, any argument against it falls apart as soon as you sink your teeth into it.

While some might argue that a modern individual can hardly find time to produce their own food, even if they own a backyard garden, one can easily start with “introductory” produce which does not require too much maintenance – no more than two or three hours a day of your time, and see where that takes you.

Opting for sustainable food and agriculture is a no-brainer. You just need to ask yourself a very simple question: would you rather eat healthy, home-grown food which is cultivated through methods which have been known to mankind for millennia, or would you rather opt for hastily grown produce which is filled with pesticides and other unspeakable chemicals? While the second method promises efficiency, the first one promises long term health benefits and high-quality lifestyle.