Unprocessed Europe

You may often hear that food in the US is bad for you at baseline- with a lack of regulation on chemical additives and processing methods during the production of mass-market groceries-  but is it like this in other countries? The food scene here is understandably frustrating, with a certain level of effort required in reading labels and choosing between price and quality when deciding how to fuel you and your family. After a trip to Switzerland and Italy, I can already feel the fatigue setting in of having to think so carefully about food choice and source in a way I simply didn’t while traveling in Europe. At Tucker & Co, our goal in creating clean granola (and all of our cafe food options) is to remove the guesswork of researching quality and additives.We produce our gluten free granola in-house, with ingredients you can trust- so breakfast is one less thing to worry about. It’s possible that consumer demands will begin to turn the tides of food processing in our country- and we believe it starts with small shops like us who are actively committed to bringing healthful food choice and access to our community.

So why is it that Europeans don’t face the same conundrum we do when eating out or grocery shopping? Local-sourcing, a commitment to maintaining agriculture integrity in production, mass-market demand for quality, tastes for authentically simple foods, and tighter regulations on chemicals could all be argued as reasons. I studied in Italy years ago and got the chance to meet local farmers and restaurateurs during a class on Food and Sustainability. I learned that with agriculture being plentiful across regions, food footprints are small, allowing the freshest local ingredients to be sold and distributed directly to consumers and businesses at a lower price-point, often without middle-men. How would the food scene begin to shift if every community had a spot selling local goods at rates competitive to grocery stores? We could imagine that if big food corporations wanted to re-capture the attention of those conscious-consumers, they may shift production methods to lean toward clean practices.

During a field trip in the Umbria region, I met with vineyard owners, olive oil grove and sheep farmers. Their way of life, of farming, is so much more than a means of income. For them, it is a way to connect to the land, to their ancestors who also tended it, as well as a manifesto for producing the highest quality “wine, cheese, olive oil, etc” to share with others. There is a commitment to the integrity of goods produced, a value placed on process that is simply absent is much of the collective consciousness of US food producers and consumers. Worse, high-quality wholesome food can be marketed as only accessible to those of a certain socio-economic bracket with heavily processed food of low nutrition-density often being a fraction of the price. This is simply not the way it is everywhere, and it certainly has not always been this way in the US. It can be easy to disassociate, expecting that a different system is out of reach, but if you simply think about how much food processing has changed since your parents’ childhood, that can give us an idea of the capacity for change in time for the next generation- for the better!

Located in Central PA, the bakery is also surrounded by local agricultural sources- although some of the largest local farming sites are churning out mono-crops like corn or soy- being sold to big food producers, without thought to pesticide use or maintaining the health of soil beyond the means for crop production efficiency. Regenerative agriculture- a concept we’re passionate about at Tucker & Co, offers a solution for modern-day farming, by implementing ancient farming mindsets- like working with nature, ensuring biodiversity, and maintaining soil health. In Italy- the concept of “regenerative agriculture” isn’t a marketing strategy and it certainly isn’t new at all- it is simply how most farming is done. Next time you’re browsing at a local farm stand or farmer’s market, ask those selling about their approach to farming, learn about the faces behind your food and use your dollars to vote for the future of food production you hope to see become mainstream in this country.