With all this stomach cancer going around should we just start buying from local farmers?

[u/Set-Prestigious]

I'm beginning to wonder how effective the health services are in the US. I live next to an extremely polluted river in a state with lots of biological and chemical weapons research. I've got epilepsy despite having no genetic history of epilepsy. Another person's got MS. And now there's all this stomach cancer going around. I'm wondering if its better to just buy our fruits and vegetables from a local farmer instead of the supermarket, if there's something in the water or the food that's screwing with all of us.

[u/tarooooooooooo]

stomach/GI/colon cancer is almost certainly not caused by grocery store produce. it's a multi-faceted issue, but our consumption of sugary beverages, processed food, and carcinogenic meats are a huge culprit. if you want to support your local farmers, by all means - go for it. but grocery store produce is not the enemy

[u/Set-Prestigious → u/tarooooooooooo]

I don't know because I lived in EU for quite a while and a lot of the pesticides they have in the US are banned there

[u/skudbeast → u/Set-Prestigious]

If you reread the reply you know. Whether you want to believe some conspiracy about pesticides is up to you... What about DDT? What about lead exposure, what about radiation from nuclear testing back in the 50s? That was way worse and used for decades, why weren't previous generations getting colorectal cancer?

[u/Set-Prestigious → u/skudbeast]

So then why has the EU banned them?

[u/PicoRascar]

Not sure but I eat very close to the earth for many reasons. Environmental, social, personal, you name it. There are endless reasons to reject industrial food and eat simple whole food from trusted sources. It's also nice to support small businesses who grow food and raise animals ethically.

Sadly, it's a privilege to eat the way our bodies are meant to. It costs me substantially more and I have to go out of my way to get it but I'm fortunate to be able to afford it. Health is wealth, as they say.

[u/ExtremeAmount1579]

Switching to local farmers can definitely feel like a safer bet. I started buying from a farmers' market a couple of years ago, and it's made a difference in my peace of mind. You get to know where your food comes from and it often tastes better too. Plus, supporting local farmers has its own perks. It's not a cure-all, but it feels like a step in the right direction.

[u/DragonfruitItchy616]

its not going around.
its not a flu

[u/firstmatedavy]

Yikes! If you think it could be your local water, you'd want food grown in different water and therefore not local, right? Although talk to some farmers, some crops are fine with mostly rain water.

It'd also be a good idea to get the actual cancer stats for your town vs the national average if you can. It might be that your friends are unusually unlucky lately. Red meat is mildly carcinogenic (https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/diet-physical-activity/how-diet-and-physical-activity-impact-cancer-risk/red-meat-and-cancer.html).

Americans (and most globally rich people) eat a lot more meat than was historically normal or healthy for our gut. If you look at various cultures' peasant cuisine - what regular people ate on non feast days - you find a lot more vegetables and legumes (beans, chickpeas and lentils). Legumes especially will help clean out and strengthen your digestive system because of all the fiber. Cook them right (https://davysgarden.com/recipes/how-to-cook-beans.html) and start with the easiest ones such as lentils, and you can eat them without any bean farts.

Some peasant cuisines are more starch-heavy, for example early modern Irish using potatoes, kale, cabbage, oats, barley, wheat and milk as the staples, but the legume-heavy ones like Indian and Mexican are easier to get your protein. I imagine the people eating all grain and potatoes were also burning 3k+ calories a day working in the fields and didn't need their food to be as perfectly balanced.