The Purpose of My Eating

excerpt from "An Open Letter to the Next Farmer in Chief" by Michael Pollan

After cars, the food system uses more fossil fuel than any other sector of the economy — 19 percent. And while the experts disagree about the exact amount, the way we feed ourselves contributes more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than anything else we do — as much as 37 percent, according to one study. Whenever farmers clear land for crops and till the soil, large quantities of carbon are released into the air. But the 20th-century industrialization of agriculture has increased the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the food system by an order of magnitude; chemical fertilizers (made from natural gas), pesticides (made from petroleum), farm machinery, modern food processing and packaging and transportation have together transformed a system that in 1940 produced 2.3 calories of food energy for every calorie of fossil-fuel energy it used into one that now takes 10 calories of fossil-fuel energy to produce a single calorie of modern supermarket food. Put another way, when we eat from the industrial-food system, we are eating oil and spewing greenhouse gases. This state of affairs appears all the more absurd when you recall that every calorie we eat is ultimately the product of photosynthesis — a process based on making food energy from sunshine. There is hope and possibility in that simple fact.  (link to full article)

"Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat" - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Now, while I am totally opposed to not ever allowing food to become a slightly hedonistic event, I am in full support of eating to live.  By this I don't just mean that eating provides calories to my body allowing my continued day to day functioning.  I intend this more in that with the individual as the agent, his, her, and my eating choices effect the structure we are in.  So my choices are to positively impact the political situation and minimize impact on counteractive environmental structures.  

This is why I try so very hard to eat local produce and why I am converting to local animal products (eggs, milk, and meat).  I wish to support my local growers.  I also wish to not support large industrial farms utilizing petrochemicals.  I do not want my food to be shipped  to a distributor and then across country, using all that gas, when it could instead come from a half hour drive away.  And I use this blog to make these choices visible.

As Pollan points out in his article, the next administration is also saddled with the issue of increased food prices during our recession.  These will not be solved by subsidizing large grain farmers, as has been done in the past.  Instead, I believe, this can be assuaged, to a point, by supporting local food producers.  This was a reason, among many, for my choice in president.  I felt that because Barackstar has such experiance from being a community organizor at working within a local scope, he has the best perspective either to solve this issue or on who to delegate to this issue.

Another way to personally pay less for food is to plant a garden.  This technique is a simple, historical holdover most remembered from the World War II Victory Gardens.  This can serve two purposes, depending on whether you find you prefer your own produce after attempting it.  The first, if you continue to plant your own produce year after year, is that first you will reduce your stress on the current agriculture infrastructure, both small and large scale.  The second, if you find you prefer to purchase your produce after attempting to garden, is that for a few years you will remove your stress from the agriculture infrastructure for a limited time.

The key here, is that while gardening, any produce bought should come from local sources.  As you, the gardener, is spending significantly less on produce, there is less of a chance of larger corporate farms being supported because the local sources are over stressed.  But this money you put into the local agricultural system will be invested in making the farms more sustainable, more productive, more green, and have more varieties.  At this point, those who find that they do not want to continue to garden, will find that their local producers can fully support them.

At the same time, some communities already have a wonderful local agricultural infrastructure.  Knoxville farmers markets, for example, can provide all the food I will eat, if I plan properly.  That is, until they stop being held.  But that is more because of lack of planning on my part.  I did not preserve foods like I should have.

My eating future will attempt to be supplimented by home-grown produce.  I am toying with the idea, in this unseasonable warmth, of building a raised bed for some produce.  I discussed this with my "plant dude" at the farmers market.  I have container gardened in the past, and in the Summer 2006 I grew all of my herbs, tomatos, and cucumbers.  The squash did not succeed.  Summer 2007 was marked by everything dieing.  It was rather depressing.  My "plant dude" claims that it was because of my soil choice - I need Miracle Grow.  This I will not do, as I refuse to use chemicals in my garden.  To start my plants in Miracle Grow would be the antithesis of my food and eating feelings.

I will update on garden progress, don't worry.