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Do you know where your food comes from?
If Googlability is a good benchmark of popularity, the world is abuzz with supporting its local farmers, community supported agriculture and being mindful eaters: Type in “sustainable food” and the search engine brings up over 11 million results.
Not quite that many know what it means. Its name implies that sustainable food is self-sufficient and capable of being produced continually, which it is. But unlike organic food, which is now regulated by the FDA if it is to have such billing, sustainable food is more a philosophy about the way a food is produced and eaten.
The tenants of sustainability—nourishing the land via biodiversified plants that enrich soil; conservation of resources like water; assurance of animal welfare; and economically and socially just farmer and worker conditions—imply the consumer’s inclusion in this full-circle ideology. The sustainable food movement is for people who are mindful about what they eat.
For example: A food cannot have been produced with pesticides, man-made fertilizers, genetically modified organisms or prodded with hormones, antibiotics or ionizing radiation to be certified 100 percent organic (there is a variety of other USDA organic stickers). Organic practices offer potential for reducing harmful ingredients, like the herbicide Atrazine, which has turned male frogs into hermaphrodites in experiments.
But in his June 4, 2006, article “Mass Natural,” premier food writer and naturalist Michael Pollan ("In Defense of Food"; "The Omnivore's Dilemma") decried the rise of big organic farms that supply to places like Safeway and Wal-Mart. He described organic feedlots whose cows nosh “organic" grain in cramped conditions--though they’re meant to eat grass, and milk’s good fat content suffers when they don't. Mass organic demand also encourages more imported veggies that take long, petroleum-burning trips from places like Argentina and China. These conditions and practices aren’t sustainable in any sense of the word.
The growing prevlance of organic practices protect the land, and us, from long-lived chemicals like Atrazine. But if you’re looking for a holistically healthy method of food production, sustainability is more your answer.
How do you buy sustainable? Talk to growers at local farmers markets about their methods of production. Participate in community supported agriculture programs, where local farms directly supply you with weekly groceries. Participate in groups with like-minded individuals, like local Slow Food chapters. You’re going to need support—this is a diet for life!
More on sustainable practices: http://www.sustainabletable.com/intro/whatis/
More on organic practices:
http://www.organic.org/
Michael Pollan article "Mass Natural": http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=78
Comments
Jennifer,
I agree wholeheartedly on the importance of sustainability in food production. There are tons (literally) of reasons we need to reexamine our eating habits.
However, regarding the Googlability test - The results you state may be correct when just typing those words in. I get a mere 5,29,000 but am in a different part of the country. Entering just the words results in a 'broad match' search. one which includes all words used in the search phrase. If you do an exact match search (by enclosing the search phrase in double-quotes), it brings back a mere 512,000 results.
Still, that is a lot of interest in a rather specific phrase or aspect of the new approach to eating. To get a better idea of what the various movements are doing on the net, try exact match searches for "Victory Garden", "Sustainable Gardening", "Sustainable Agriculture", "Urban Homesteading", "CSA" or "Foodshed".
"Mass organic demand also encourages more imported veggies that take long, petroleum-burning trips from places like Argentina and China. These conditions and practices aren’t sustainable in any sense of the word."
Well, that's partially true, but are you suggesting that importing conventionally produced foods is sustainable? I don't think so. At least if you buy organic, you help farmers develop skills that are sustainable. Buying conventional foods just suggests business-as-usual and short-term profits.
Right, the point is that sustainable is, many times, better than organic, partially because there is an extra emphasis on local. You're not going to buy "sustainable" food at Wal-Mart, per se, but you can buy "certified organic" produce from there. Conventional food has more to do with some organic produce in this vein.
As a physician, I recommend healthful foods and the lifestyle often associated with small scale sustainable farming.
Sustainable agriculture is what we used to have before big business and big government started colluding against the smaller operations; regulations under the guise of 'safety' or 'quality' are often merely hurdles thrown in the path of the small scale farmer. Hopefully the government will lighten up a bit, but usually they prefer to intervene, and do something counterproductive.
That right ! Thanks !!
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