Three Very Promising Trends

Organic food is on the rise!

  

In less than a decade, organic food sales have increased over 150%. Not wholly impressed just yet? Then think about the state of the economy over the last decade. Shaky at best. And organic food ain’t cheap. (By the way, if price is a concern, check out this link for a list of most and least contaminated produce that can help you decide what the must-have vs nice-to-have organics are. Include peanut butter, ketchup and milk in the must-have's, by the way.) The media also makes it very easy to justify continuing with conventional. As is the case for anything, there will always be an article or piece of research that supports whatever you might want to hear, the latest from September concluding there is little evidence that organic foods are more nutritious than conventional foods. Yet despite studies like these, we continue to spend more on it and eat more of it each and every year: a strong sign that we’re paying more attention and drawing our own conclusions, despite constant conflicting and often deliberately confusing reports.

More and more are on the run!

A record 21,378 people ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon this past weekend. Back in February when registration opened, runners had a matter of hours to sign up before the quota was filled. In fact, I had to have my husband sign me up as my three-hour meeting precluded me from getting to a computer in time. They ended up opening it back up a month or so later, so that everyone who wanted to register was able to, up to 39,999 people!!! (I’m not entirely sure why only just over half of those who signed up actually ran, but I'm choosing to focus on the record number of runners!)

Farmers’ markets are all the rage!

Another incredible trend – the number of farmers’ markets are up 400% over the past 20 years. There are all sorts – ones focused exclusively on food, ones that sell crocheted blankets next to enormous barrels of pickles, others that also entertain with live music, face-painting and the like, making the market much more than just the place you buy fresh produce a couple times a month, but a fun family destination. In no matter what form they come, they’re all growing in number and size, and that wouldn’t happen unless they were lucrative. This means we are going out of our way to spend money on local, fresh stuff. We like knowing where our food is coming from. We like (feeling as though we’re) meeting the guy who picked the kale. More than like it, it seems more and more of us are understanding how important it is. 

So there you have it. Three promising trends. Of course these trends have been moving in the right direction for years now, and obesity rates have sky-rocketed. But recent reports indicate obesity rates may now be plateauing (see chart in April 20 blog post.) Are we finally starting to nurse ourselves back to health? The optimistic health coach in me is responding with an emphatic yes!