Sprout Home

Grow Your Own: Why Your Food Needs To Be Dirtier

By Sarahrae, July 16th, 2012, Chicago

Here at Sprout Home we are big supporters of gardening in any form. Even if you don’t have a giant garden in your backyard, we still believe that you can get a great crop from containers and that doing so is not only uplifting to the spirit, but good for your health as well. As if this theory needed any more support a recent article from the New York Times has recently highlighted a concern for folks as the food we consume from traditional grocery stores is literally too clean.

In recent years most American’s have adopted what’s become a traditional model of purchasing foods that have been grown in such a way that they have a longer shelf life and can yeild higher crops to meet the demand of consumers. Although that means we can have tomatoes year round, it also means that our foods are becoming a little too processed and clean.

When all food came from the ground (the organic kind before “organic” was a thing,) we ingested trace amounts of dirt full of microorganisms that live in the soil. Now that our daily lives are a bit cleaner and filled with regular showers, hand sanitizer and overly processed and produced foods, we don’t have that same exposure that our bodies needed to help fight of disease. Give your guts a chance to work for you. It’s really as simple as growing your own goods! Did you know we still have all sorts of vegetables in stock at Sprout? They’re all organically grown and ready for a home.

Read More: Dirtying Up Your Diet from The New York Times

(Image: Flickr member ccharmon licensed for use by Creative Commons)