Presented Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Introduction
Human beings have been eating organic food for hundreds of thousands of years, while the advent of synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides, and mono-cropping occupy only a tiny fraction of our history. While the health effects of pesticides and other chemicals are well known, shifting our country and the world back to healthier organics is hard to do! But how did we get into this organic vs. nonorganic pickle in the first place?
It all starts with the age-old problem of food security. While racked with droughts, famines, plagues, pestilence, Mongolians, and other events that kept life entertaining before television existed, food was scarce. The need to grow greater quantities of food was met with the limitations of food production. Enter the unprecedented boom in technology and science in the 1900’s. Refrigerators were born, humans had left the confines of its billion plus year home and traveled into space! The Green Revolution of the 1950’s was a product of this incredibly awesome but turbulent period. While remarkable, the over-reliance on science as the solution to humanity’s problems led to some dangerous new precedents.
Pesticides
Significant exposure to pesticides causes asthma, cancer, birth defects, as well as skin and eye problems. César Chávez fasted for 36 days to protest because farm workers were getting extremely sick. But the use continues, since it takes years for the average American to be affected.
Many of the negative effects of industrial agriculture extend far from fields and farms. Nitrogen compounds from Midwestern farms, for example, travel down the Mississippi to degrade coastal fisheries and create a large "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico where aquatic life cannot survive.
Chemical Fertilizers
Chemical fertilizers contain a large amount of salt. As some of us young boys know, when you pour enough salt on a snail, it kills the poor creature! Our soil is filled with millions of tiny microorganisms that keep our dirt healthy and strong. And our plants depend on strong soil to grow healthy. Chemical fertilizer kills these microorganisms and thus makes our plants weaker. In the cornfields of the Midwest, farmers are familiar with a concept called blow-down, which breaks corn stalks at their base when a strong wind blows. Healthy corn can resist blow-down, but a significantly higher proportion of chemically fertilized corn end up dying.
Locally Grown Vs. Imported Food
There are enormous indirect costs that come with centralized industrial agriculture beyond the use of pesticides. Buying locally produced agriculture or growing your own is a critical component of ones carbon footprint.
1) Buying local uses less fossil fuels at many points; local farmers don’t have to refrigerate and transport perishable produce across the country or the world.
2) Locally produced foods purchased through both distributors and farmers markets supports local farmers and workers.
3) Perhaps the most influential element of purchasing locally grown foods is that not only do you know where they’re from and how they were grown, but you often learn this information from the farmer themselves! Buying local enhances your community connectedness and interactions with the producers of your food.
Do you know who takes care of your…
- Car?
- Teeth?
- Hair?
So why wouldn’t we invest some amount of time in getting to know who produces the food we put into our bodies?
In addition to buying locally harvested food, the consideration of growing your own is quite powerful in the reduction of your carbon footprint, saving money and building a community with your fellow green thumbs. Heck, you can even practice in our own community garden right across the street! From there, you can grow quite a bit of food in even a small planter at home!
Summary: Buying or growing locally
- Builds community
- Supports local workers / farmers
- Reduces carbon footprint / environmental cost of food
Animal Products
Livestock production generates almost 20 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases -- more than the entire transportation sector. If Americans reduced meat consumption by just 20 percent, it would be as though we all switched from a sedan to a hybrid. (New York Times)
Animal factory farms pollute U.S. waterways more than all other industrial sources combined. And you’d save more water by refraining from eating a pound of beef than you would by not showering for an entire year. (E - The Environmental Magazine)
Producing 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of beef emits more carbon dioxide than does going for a three-hour drive while leaving all the lights on at home. (The Guardian)
Those who can’t cut out meat entirely might decide to be carnivorous on only one or two days of the week.
Each vegetarian / vegan saves an acre of forest every year! Think about how many years you hope to live from this day. It could easily be 70 or 80 acres of land that you would save in you life time just by making a decision to stop consuming meat.
80% of the agricultural land in the United States is used to raise animals for food.
A plant based diet requires a total of 300 gallons of water per day, while a meat based diet requires more than 4000 gallons of water per day.
It takes more fossil fuel energy for a meat eater to walk to work than it does for a vegan / vegetarian to drive there!
Solutions to Greener Eating
So…we know that locally grown organic produce is our first, best choice….but life is tricky….and so as to the question: “what is better…organic apple from New Zealand or conventional from California?” the answer is that it depends….you’re weighing pesticides with footprints…you’re also weighing how much the organic matters to your personal health vs. the earth’s health, maybe you’re factoring in price and the fact that you’re hungry and that there are small people pulling things off the shelves while you’re trying to decide…the main thing is to not stress…your apple choice is not going to make or break the entire environmental movement…but stressing about it will….just take a deep breath and call Mathew to ask him what you should do, no really….the best default answer, in most cases, is local and there are many great resources for local food…if you go to…. local harvest.org, put in your zip…literally hundreds of local vendors will appear
Other good ideas
- Minimally packaged foods.
- Eat lots of whole foods.
- Eat lower on the food chain….Try cutting down just one day a week to start!
- Buy organic or pesticide-free whenever possible.
- Buy fruits and veggies from the farmers' market whenever possible.
- Drink tap instead of bottled water.
- Eat out less often.
- Buy bulk.
- Local or home grown.
And a few links…
Part of eating well means taking proper care of our bodies. And that means we must know our bodies needs. The following links should give you a good start!
Basal Metabolic Rate
Interested in calculating the amount of calories your body requires in a day? Well look no further! Follow this link to calculate your needs. If you are active (you exercise 1-3 times a week), multiply your results by 1.3. If you are very active (you exercise 4-5 times a week), multiply your results by 1.5.
Nutrition and Lifestyle Questionnaire
How well do you handle stress? How are your eating habits? Sleeping well? If you are curious about any of these questions, review this questionnaire to find out more about your body!
Metabolic Typing Questionnaire
Some people function better on a high carbohydrate/low protein diet. Others are the complete opposite. For some, their diet may be lacking in fat. For others still, a mixed balance provides optimal wellness. Find out what your metabolic type is here.
