Factory Farms were at the core of this book, not only the way animals are treated, but the health risk these farms pose to consumers, neighbors and the planet at large. Interestingly he noted that these farms are not about creating food, but about creating money. And when you have animals as your commodity it becomes an even more tense situation.
Our relationship to food is so varied and so that means our strategy towards sustainability will be the same.
For instance there are millions of people in this world who live in poverty and do not have access to food. And then there are another group of millions who have access to so much food that there are societies with obesity issues. Is the issue about redistribution of this food? Or could it be looked slightly differently about sustainability of food, food systems, human health and balance with local ecosystems to provide the sustainable amount of food.
In many ways this is what we should be advocating - but doing so in the USA means that millions of food calories do not need to even be produced. Concern then grows for the livelihoods of the people growing this food. What if systems were slowed down so the output was lower, more people had jobs and the food that we ate was contributing to a sustainable ecosystem instead of taking away from it.
There are some amazing models of sustainable food systems all of the world that need more voice and need to be supported. All the way from local farming practices in places like Africa to urban agriculture in Washington DC.
Reconnecting with our food is something we all must take on as a personal challenge - this is the daily relationship with sustainability that we can live.
