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| Yes | 41% | 145 votes | Total: 357 votes | |
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Add to FavoritesAny other way makes less sense. We rely on the planet for our survival. In fact, we are physically made of the food that is produced by the planet. Here's how it works: the sun shines, plants grow, we eat the plants. Taken one step further, the sun shines, plants grow, animals eat the plants, we eat the animals. We all know this is the way it works. Why would we create our own complicated system to mass produce pieces of food all over the world and ship them to a factory to mix them and ship them to a store? Our grocery stores are full of stuff from all over the world and we eat it all up until we develop a nationwide obesity problem.
Some see the entire mechanism for providing chemically-engineere d food as a triumph, making it possible for anyone to have food even if it doesn't grow in your area. Without this system, human beings simply couldn't live in an area where the land couldn't produce food. With our complicated system, however, people are able to eat a lot, have lots of children who can be fed until they have lots of children and so on, no matter where they live. What would be the consequence of only living on land that could support human life and only procreating to the point that everyone still has enough food?
To find the answer, we only need to look at the world's population before our massive food production. At year 1AD, the world's population was 200 million. After 1700 years it increased to 700 million. 300 years after that, it's 6 billion. These numbers make it clear enough that the world's population is exploding and will inevitably cause a myriad of serious health and environmental problems. This explosion would not have been possible without the creation of an unnatural system for producing food.
Aside from the animals that we grow ourselves in factories, the populations of animals living on the planet are limited to what that part of the planet can support. However, this sort of simple idea is completely foreign to the modern human being that feels separate from the planet - alien to it - meant to use the planet as a tool - meant to have "dominion" over it. Most of us have that delusion, but it doesn't change the fact that we are animals, completely reliant on the rest of the planet for survival.
As gasoline gets more and more expensive, our manufactured food will become more expensive, too. A much simpler system should emerge - the sun shines, the plants grow, we eat them. Community Support Agriculture (CSA's) will begin to look a lot more reasonable. If a city needs food, grow the food right outside the city. People with land can grow their own food to eat, sell, or trade. Makes sense, right?
And as for the term "organic," that food could one day be referred to as "food," while things like "Pizza Rolls" and "McDonalds" could be referred to as "that awful project that humanity tried for about a hundred years which caused all kinds of health problems, overpopulation, and destruction of the planet."
Learn more about this author, John Rixey.
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No
The United States has long been known as the "melting pot." There are people here from every country in the world, and we speak as many languages. And when you have that many cultures that come together in one place, there's one thing that you can bet on: dinner is gonna be good.
There is a huge push among environmentalists to eat organic and to eat locally. I utilize my farmer's market during the summers. There is nothing better than locally grown corn-on-the-cob, sided with a fresh sliced tomato. But because I live in Indianapolis, Indiana, a temperate climate, I can only eat locally for about 3-4 months of the year. People who live in warmer areas, such as southern California, Texas, and Florida have the luxury of being able to buy locally grown food all year round. And it seems that the people who speak the loudest about "food mileage" are from these areas, and somehow expect the rest of the country to follow suit. During the winter months, I just don't feel that it's possible. That is, unless you feel that by "local" you mean "the U.S."
And then there's buying organic. I would love to buy organic. In fact, I try to buy organic as much as I can. But here's the kicker: if you DON'T use chemicals, why does it cost me more? For people, like us, who mostly live paycheck to paycheck (and probably the majority of Americans these days), the perpetual question at hand is "cheap vs. organic." We are torn by guilt to be greener these days, but should it be to the expense of our bank account? It's especially hard when there are children involved, and every penny must be allocated. Another reason I would love to go organic is because my husband is allergic to MSG. We eliminate a lot of our worrying when we buy organic foods. However, I still think that more people would buy organic if it wasn't so much more expensive than regular fruit and vegetables.
In a recent TIME Magazine essay (January 21, 2008), Joel Stein talks about his experiment with eating globally. His goal was to gather food for dinner that grown from places that are 3000 miles of where he lives in Los Angeles. He ate Marcona almonds from Spain, Greek olives, French Brie, Scottish smoked salmon, Chilean sea bass from South Georgia Island, asparagus from Peru, Hawaiian pineapple and a young coconut from Thailand. (He does note that the pineapple was stretching it, because it's only 2500 miles away.) In essence, Stein became the global gourmand that you are able to find in our multicultural, melting pot.
We were all brought to this country for one reason or another. Some were escaping persecution; some were explorers; some wanted a new life; some were snatched up from their home countries and brought here. But what happened when we all got together was a cultural mixing that included sharing recipes. I love the fact that food from all over can be shipped to small grocery stores in tiny towns in the middle of the Midwest. If I were forced to eat only locally grown food, I'd be missing out on a lot of staple food that is not grown or made in central Indiana, like rice, pasta, seafood, many spices, different kinds of cheeses, certain kinds of juice, virtually no soda, many different kinds of vegetables or fruits (especially in the winter time), and certain kinds of meat. To someone who lives in an apartment, canning and buying in bulk really isn't an option either. So, although I try to do my part, it isn't always viable. Besides, I love that I can serve my family burritos, sushi, fettuccine alfredo, beef stroganoff, and falafel all in the same week. It's so cosmopolitan, and I love it.
Learn more about this author, Joyce D. Sinclair.
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