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.
2 comments:
Interesting points Nicole. There are many sides to this issue. Our home for example is partly supported by the factory farm industry. According to Scott the slaughter of the chickens is done in a humane manner. I can not have a problem with the killing of animals but then eat meat so the knowledge that these chickens don't suffer does make me feel better. This does not change the manner in which they lived in the first place. The numbers of chickens who go through the factory each day is staggering. This raises the questions "Where are these thousands of birds living?" The cities keep growing and encroaching on farm land which may make eating locally harder and harder to do. I am intrigued by the idea of industry producing less but as they are driven by the dollar I think that will only happen if the demand is less. The responsibility falls on the consumer to chose foods ethically produced by local sources or partially produce their own foods. Unfortunately it is not always financially possible to buy the $20 organic free range chicken.
@sbassett I am so happy that you commented on this post. your experience of having a part of your family income to come from a factory slaughter house is illustrative of how complicated these issues get. I do think if people slowly release their attachment to things being a certain way you can slowly move towards the type of world that we want to be a part of. Think of the time that you clung to the side of the pool and eventually floated away and were able to swim...
That could mean any number of answers for people based on where they live. So maybe it is less meat per month, maybe it is that organic chicken twice a year, maybe it is NOT buying something else. Thanks for your comment.
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