I can assure you that Ryan, my cousin and self proclaimed noodle expert, can’t remember what he was given for Christmas 2 years ago, but will be able to, in detail, discuss the quality of grandma’s noodles. Furthermore, when asked what the most tragic Christmas event in our family history is, you will be spared the trouble of hearing about what so and so said about such and such, but rather will be told about the year we had store bought rolls. Oh – the emotional letdown! This is because food can shape our thoughts, and emotions toward a particular event. You have heard this underlying theme many times- “don’t eat for emotional comfort, comfort food, eating for sadness, food as a crutch.” This is how food plays a part in our emotions, or rather - emotions can play a part in what foods we eat.
Spiritual- Think about it- the “original sin” is centered around food; the Last Supper has such a spiritual significance. Most religious holidays are centered around certain foods, or the abstaining thereof.
Economic – the cost of our food, which is rising, plays a important role in our country’s economy. Our society’s success is, or at least should be, marked by our ability to feed our less fortunate. If you take a look at struggling economies you will see at the root of the problem is starvation, and lack of quality food. This is a building block of a good economy. If you don’t eat, you can’t concentrate, and if you can’t concentrate you can’t be productive at your job that contributes to your economy.
Political- If we take a look at history, we will find many wars fought about food. Do we really think that big oil is the driving force of current wars? Maybe- but that oil is used in our cars to take us to work to make money to feed our family. That oil is used to fuel manufacturing plants that “manufacture” food, or in transportation vehicles that are used to move our food from far off lands to our local grocery stores. Every time there is a major change in our food thought, there is major political might used to stop or move forward with that thought. Take a look at what Wal- mart lobbyist have managed to do in lowering the standards of organic so they can import from places like China. Regulation is another form of politics that has shown its face in the food world- regulation of raw milk, mandating that all almonds in the United States be pasteurized, yet still allowing them to be labeled as “raw.”
So how can we make a difference? Well, you already are. When you create real food, from real ingredients, you allow your family to understand where a meal comes from, and can have a sense of accomplishment that can only come from food that wasn’t manufactured in a lab. By eating food grown in an organic way, you are eating food that has not been made by man, but rather man has been a steward of the land and plants, which produce it. By eating local, you help remove the need for political intervention. Meaning – there is no need for farm to table tracking at the grocery store- if you, as a consumer, take the time to get to know where your food comes from. I can tell you, who grew every piece of produce in our boxes. That is us, as consumers, being proactive without the need for big government. Eating local foods also reduces the need for oil; the average piece of produce at the grocery store travels 1500 miles to get to you. Local food in your produce box travels less than 200, with the majority of it coming from a 50 mile radius. Also, by ordering what we need on a weekly basis, we reduce waste. Think about all that food at the local grocery store that goes bad, how many hungry families could that feed? Do we really have a supply problem in the world of food, or do we have a logistical problem, of supply, demand, and waste?
I would love to hear thoughts and ideas on these issues.
Hi! I enjoyed your first blog entry, very thought provoking and intelligent. - Abby Turner
ReplyDeleteCue slightly unfocused ramble, somewhat on topic:
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of local food systems, I always think of the devolving expectations of quality (as challenged by equivocating quality with technology), the percentage of our income spent on food versus 50 years ago, and this whole "loss aversion" where we try to save money by buying what's cheapest, but in many ways, are doing ourselves a disservice via the affects on the local economy, health, etc.
What makes us think we're getting a bargain by buying a 1.00 burger at McBurger with little nutritional value, versus spending 1.00 on beans and an onion for a folic-acid, fiber rich meal for 6?
There's so much that plays into our loss of believing we deserve something better, or knowing what better IS, and why…
When I think of food and spirituality, I have to include cultural practices. I think of the seed savers, the companies like Monsanto trying to patent seeds…SEEDS! Patent something that evolved to propagate life and originally available to us all and woven into the fabric of all cultures.
The basmati rice and mustard seed we identify with India—how can you patent that? Or the medicinal qualities of food...cultures have used natural remedies for thousands of years, developed systems of treatment like Ayurvedic medicine, using said natural remedies (like ginger, turmeric)…how can that be patented? How can you patent something deeply enmeshed in a culture?
I believe that anything that pulls us so far from story of our food and shocks, surprises, or even worse—makes us apathetic—should be questioned. So…when did we start asking more questions? Are we still asking enough questions? What are the right questions? How do we make sure we ask the right questions? What makes us care about something deeply enough to constantly ask questions?
End ramblings.