Is it traceable and organic?

Now that we have gotten into the habit of buying local and eating local, the next level is to find out who makes our food. I have been lucky to meet some bakers during the pandemic who live close to my house and who could deliver freshly-baked bread straight to my doorstep. It surely beats buying commercial bread.

After the pandemic, I also read about glyphosate and its bad effects on our diets. Glyphosate use in farms is very prevalent because farmers want to reduce costs of weeding. They spray the area with glyphosate which kills the weeds and prepares the soil for planting. This chemical seeps through the soil and gets into our vegetables, root crops and whatever we plant on this land “infected” with glyphosate. Its partners, seeds and planting materials have to be genetically-modified or what we call GMOs. Ergo, glyphosate use encourages use of GMO seeds and this tandem probably affects the gluten content, too. This “new world gluten” I now believe is what is causing Celiac disease and gluten intolerance.

But people are not aware that this new version of gluten is now bad for them and they just pop an anti-histamine to address such allergy to “new food” that are not from organic or ancient grains. What happened to our ancient grains like adlai? We in Slow Food took the bull by the horns and asked chefs to start using adlai, so farmers will start to grow them again. Adlai has a glycemic index which is lower than white rice, so it is better food for diabetics and those who are glucose and gluten intolerant. Adlai is gluten-free along with sweet potato (grown organically), other tubers and root crops. Another gluten-free alternative that is organically-grown is heirloom rice. Our indigenous peoples (IPs) would not use glyphosate because it may not be good for their crops and they also do not have the extra budget to buy chemicals. Ergo, these heirloom rice are naturally organic or organic by default.

Soybeans, however, became GMO and you would be hard pressed to find organic soybeans. The soy sauce we are familiar with also contains gluten because additives like flour or thickeners get into its preparation as a table condiment. Why all the fuss about gluten?