I don’t eat
well, I eat too much when I do, and I seldom eat three meals a day. That being
said, I love food. I love the culture that emerges from food, and I love the
hidden aspects that surround food, regardless of whether we see that in our
daily lives. In a culture that emphasizes maximum output of work at the least
expense, time becomes essential. For too long, our society has attempted to
extinguish the connection between the farmer and the consumer. However, time is
now saying otherwise, and a resurgence in food values and ethics has emerged
that rivals the might of President Teddy Roosevelt’s food reformation at the
turn of the 20th century. Despite being confined to the limits of
Sodexho in college, I know that when I move off of campus, I will care about
the food I am putting in my body, and I will care about where that food came
from. Eating organic is not enough to
sustain a planet – we need to eat local, we need to eat fresh, and we need to
eat in a way that will replenish the earth we walk on. As a whole, we need
to stop eating processed food and start thinking about real, sustainable food. If
we do not give back to the Earth sooner rather than later, we will have nothing
left to take. In my life, the actions I take to promote sustainable eating will
in fact have an impact on the world, so let’s beg in. What is sustainable
eating?
The Environmental Protection Agency
defines sustainability as “everything
that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or
indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and
maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive
harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of
present and future generations” (Sustainability Information). However I’d
rather reflect on a more contemporary and informal definition – one that takes
people back to their hands and knees, where dirt and water is the only thing
between you and your food. When I think of sustainability, I think of the
capacity to endure, to thrive and to reproduce in a fashion that allows our
grandchildren to do the same. America arguably stood as the most sustainable
continent in the world – that was until the Europeans arrived in the 15th
century. So I am going to take the liberty to quote the Native Americans here,
“Seventh Generation Advisors puts into modern practice the ancient Native
American philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a
sustainable world seven generations into the future. Ensuring that decisions
being made about our energy, water, and natural resources are sustainable is
central to this belief and to our mission (Seventh Generation Advisors)”. That,
in my opinion, is sustainable, and that practice counteracts the time-oriented
culture we live around. So let’s start to take some time out of the day to make
our lives less time-oriented, and more oriented around the things that are
important.
I must say however, I am both bias and spoiled. My passion
for food is found in the hands-on component of harvesting crops and raising
livestock. There is something refreshing and therapeutic about milking a cow
with your hand (though few may admit it), and you develop an appreciation for
food that you didn’t know existed. No, I cannot testify that slaughtering
animals is pleasant, but it’s an experience you won’t appreciate or understand
until you actually do it. I say that because of the culture we live, and the
disconnect we find between ourselves, our food, and the space between. We
forget about the families and farmers that depend on growing food, and the
sailors who rely on ocean freighters for work, and the supermarkets that
categorize mass into a manageable shopping experience. There is a link in every
part of the food chain that sustains not just consumers, but jobs as well. This
is crucial to keep in mind, because if we are too change the American food
industry, we must find ways to allocate old, industrial-corporate jobs, to the
fields where food is grown.
U.S. consumers are arguably, the pickiest eaters in the world. Not in
the sense that we only eat certain foods, or that we only eat fast food like
much of the world may choose to believe - but rather the contrary. With wealth
and power comes accessibility, and at a cheap cost. When you walk into your
local Safeway in February, it is evident that much of the produce and
vegetables on display requires a warmer climate than the United States offers
growers in that season. According to the United States Department of
Agriculture, “As Americans have become wealthier and more ethnically diverse,
the American food basket reflects a growing share of tropical products, spices,
and imported gourmet products. Seasonal and climatic factors drive U.S. imports
of popular types of fruits and vegetables and tropical products, such as cocoa
and coffee” (US Food Imports). The commodities offered to the average American
consumer are, as an understatement, abundant. Only a handful of countries in
the world can compete with the supermarkets of America, and even those that do
tend to lack the diversity and choice found within the aisles of your local
produce section. As American’s, we have mastered the art of bringing Chile and
Costa Rica to our local produce section. These practices, however, represent
everything that is wrong with our society. No, fruit imports in the winter are
not going to cease from around the world; economic and global stability relies
on an interconnected agricultural sector in which countries can support one
another. There are however small steps we can take to reduce the amount of
foreign foods consumed, and that goes back to one of the simplest forms of
growing food – in your back yard.
Our ancestors mastered the art of local farming, and the decades
surrounding World War II forced not only Americans, but British, French, and
countless other nations to utilize the backyard garden. From tomatoes, to
berries, to herbs, to chickens – families learned to sustain themselves because
they had no other option. War torn nations saw the collapse of their own
agricultural economy, and countries such as the United States were forced to
send the bulk of their food to soldiers and food-deprived nations throughout
the world. Today, circumstances have changed. No, we are not forced to conserve
food for our soldiers abroad, however we are forced to conserve food and
resources for our grandchildren’s children. I am not proposing we drop
everything and join an Amish community, although I must say life would be much
more simple. What I am proposing is a return to our roots – reinventing the
practice that our ancestors thrived off of. Pollan suggests, “Don’t eat
anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food” (Unhappy
Meals, 15). He goes on to state, “Especially avoid food products containing
ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable, c) more than five in
number – or that contain high fructose corn syrup…and get out of the
supermarket whenever possible” (16) – suggesting that farmer markets are a
healthier and more viable solution. His advice is sounds and intelligent,
Pollan suggests a world where eating better is tangible. I guarantee that the
foods you grow in your back yard won’t contain any of the ingredients that
Pollan says to avoid.
It seems today’s food reformation is not too different from
those of the past. “At the turn of the 20th Century, America’s food was
rotten. A good part of the reason for this were the filthy conditions in
the slaughter houses and packing houses, mostly in Chicago, where cattle and
other livestock were butchered and processed for the consumer. There was
no law permitting the federal government to inspect what could be likened to
nothing less than charnel houses and to keep bad meat and other foods from
crossing into other states” (Pure Food and Drug Act). It was Roosevelt that
took the initiative to clean up the American food system over one hundred years
ago, and now today, it is the small farmers, the field workers, and the grow
houses who are rewriting history. Of course, we must be able to sustain and
feed a growing population, but when slaughterhouses are built to massacre
33,000 hogs in a day (Food Inc.), one must realize that an operation this large
cannot humanely or properly monitor the death of all of those pigs. It is time
we stop eating chickens that are doused in ammonia. It is time that we stop preventing
animals from seeing the light of day. In order to eat healthy, we must change
the way the large corporations act. Not everyone will be able to take the time
to eat locally, to farm, or to afford foods from the local farmer’s market –
and that is fine. What I am recommending is that the American people stand up
to the corporations who insist chemicals ensure good health. It is time the
American people awoke as a whole. When the people lead, the leaders begin to
follow. Let’s start to lead, together – just like Teddy Roosevelt did in the
early nineteen hundreds.
That’s it, that’s all.
Local, sustainable, fresh, organic – I know they seem like
dull trade words at this point, but they hold the power to save our food and
more importantly, our bodies. I believe in sustainable agriculture because it
has the power to not only produce healthy foods for healthy bodies, but it has
the capacity to endure. Our children’s children need to know what real food is
like. At the current rate, I am horrified to imagine the food we will be eating
one hundred years from now, but I also know so much can change in one hundred
years. So let’s get back to our hands and knees, where dirt is plentiful and
sweat is rewarding. For those who have the smallest of yards, go buy a chicken.
I promise they’re not too expensive, and when the time comes – I will
personally show you how to slaughter them for meat. For those of you who have
more than a small yard, buy a goat. They are cheaper than a nice lawnmower, and
the milk you get from them is some of the most nutritious in the world. I know
these ideas may seem crazy for some of you who prefer the farmer’s market and
the organic section in your local grocery, but they are ideas that endure. That
is what we need, not for our sake, not for our children’s sake, but as the
Native Americans practice, for the sake of the seventh generation down the road
from now. Let’s stop manufacturing processed, bulk food at a cheap rate, and
let’s start enduring. It will not be easy, but
with passion and knowledge, the world is yours for the taking. So reach out and
take it.
Works Cited
Pollan,
Michael. "Unhappy Meals." The New York Times. The New York
Times, 28 Jan.
2007. Web. May 2012.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?pagewanted=all>.
"Pure
Food and Drug Act - Biography of Theodore Roosevelt by Theodore Roosevelt
Association." Web. May 2012.
<http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/purefooddrug.htm>.
"Seventh
Generation Advisors." About SGA. Web. May 2012.
<http://www.seventhgenerationadvisors.org/>.
"Sustainability
Information | EPA Research | EPA." EPA. United States Environmental
Protection Agency. Web. May 2012.
<http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm>.
"U.S.
Food Imports." ERS/USDA Data -. 10 Apr. 2012. Web. Apr. 2012.
<http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/FoodImports/>.
