Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Grow Your Own Food for Optimum Health

Click here  to read the article I wrote for the Peninsula Gateway in Gig Harbor, WA.  It's called Grow Your Own Food for Optimum Health.



(The link has since been removed from the site, so below you will find the text of this article.)




Grow Your Own Food for Optimum Health
By Monica Rakowski
Everyone knows fruits and vegetables picked fresh from the garden taste infinitely better than store bought produce, even if you pay extra for organic.  Fruits picked from the vine are sweet, juicy and ripe.  We cannot say the same for store bought.  Store bought produce is picked before it is ripe, reducing its nutrient value and number of digestible enzymes.  Most is treated with irradiation as a preservation technique (think of a microwave) which kills vital nutrients and enzymes.  Due to pollution and the over-use of chemical fertilizers, the soil, air and water our food is grown in is toxic, which affects its taste and nutritional value.  And unless you buy organic, you are probably buying genetically modified food and don’t even know it since labeling laws, such as I-522, have yet to pass.  This food may look prettier, but it does not taste better. 

Remember that taste is equal to the nutritional value of your fruits and veggies.  Ask anyone over 50 and they will tell you food tastes different than it used to.  The taste of our produce has steadily declined along with the state of our environment.   As our air, water, and soil have become more toxic, so has our food.  So should we settle with what we’ve been given?  Should we settle for bland, un-ripened, nutrient- and enzyme-deficient food?  Or should we innovate and find a better solution?

One solution is to grow your own food indoors, year round.  Whether it be inside of a greenhouse, a room in our home, or a 2’ x 4’ grow tent in our garage, we can grow as much of our own food as possible.  If you strive to live a health-conscious lifestyle, this should be a no-brainer for you.  You can grow nutrient- and enzyme-rich food that you pick right off the vine and immediately put on your plate.  You can control the soil, air, and water you use to grow your food.  You can ensure the use of organic fertilizers and pesticides.  You can ensure harmful preservation techniques aren’t being used and that your crops are not being cross-pollinated with GMO crops. Yes, this happens. 

There is a multitude of ways to grow your food indoors.  Have fun and experiment.  Be creative.  Try hydroponics, which is growing with water instead of soil.  Or perhaps try aquaponics, which uses living fish and their waste to fertilize your crops in a re-circulating system.  You can use rich, organic soil indoors.  You can create vertical gardens or hanging gardens.  Regardless of your available space, you can grow at least some of the food you eat.  I have a feeling it will taste so good that you will want to grow more.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”   When the food you eat is natural, full of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and void of toxins, your body will be the same.  Dis-ease has a hard time thriving in such an environment.  You are what you eat.  Literally. 

Monica Rakowski is one of the owners of KP Indoor Garden Store in Lakebay, WA, and loves to educate others about gardening and health.  You can view her shop’s website at www.KPIndoorGardenStore.com and find them on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube for more information and education.

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