Save the World with Meatless Mondays.

This week was devoted to Food Geography with Professor Sage from Ireland. it was a LOT. it was overwhelming. it was depressing. it was fascinating. some of the information i knew before, but it was reiterated to be re-enforced. basically, it was about the environmental dimensions of our food systems and how we impact the biosphere and the earth's resources through the food choices we make.

as i said, there was a lot of information, but i think it's provoking/relatable so i will share a few thoughts to ponder:

• "eating is an agricultural act" - wendell berry. it's also an ecological act: how and what we eat has implications for this one earth we live on - how we move, materials we use, production processes, our waste. think about it. 
• despite the overabundant amount of food we produce, about 1 billion people are starving because of lack of financial powers and entitlements (the number does not include "food poor" in OECD countries) compared to over 1.5 billion who are obese and overweight. 
• china ate more meat in 2005 than the world ate in 1961. meat consumption usually increases with countries' economic prosperity therefore the wealthy have more resources of protein. low income diets are often high in fat and sugar but then again, meat consumption has its own medical implications. the wealthy also have the option to be vegetarians because of available fresh foods, knowing the health benefits comes from high levels of education which is related to wealth, and the distance between work and home is related to wealth and most fast food is eaten in cars. sometimes diets and food choices are not really choices at all. 
• a food system is defined as agriculture -> food processing and manufacturing -> corporate retail (most power) -> consumer. poli/econ/socio changes are all interconnected in this structure. it's linear, but we need to close the loop. how? the decision making is made by retailers who tell farmers what and how much to grow, they respond to and shape what consumers want or are lead to believe they want - profit motive is disguised by price, convenience, choice, health
• we are no longer selling food products, but novelties, commodities, statuses, conveniences, medical health promises and fortifications (aka stripping a product of it's "foodness" and meaning to just have it engineered back in for a higher price aka "added calcium" or probiotic yogurts). ** stay away from foods that make medical promises**
• wal-mart sells organic food - good to make it available to masses at affordable prices, but it has the impact of wiping out "organic" by softening the organic standards and by offering lower prices people will buy their organic at wal-mart instead of from the local farmers. by selling food in an organic/farmers market-looking setting, people may feel as though it really comes straight from the farm, but to wal-mart, what is local? 30 miles? 300 miles? the USA?
• sustainability depends on social (if people don't understand) + economic (if it can't be implemented) + environmental ( if its bad for the environment) dimensions (= it won't work.) this intereconnectedness is not always reflected in policies or gov't decisions - dept of health, dept of agriculture etc are all isolated yet food is the inter-linakge of human and environmental health aka our health is related what we eat and the agriculture we get it from. 
• externalities: hidden costs that are not incorporate into what you pay - costs on health on the environment 
• 30% of total food purchased is thrown out and ends up in land fill (includes food scraps and entire packages/uneaten spoiled food)
• food is travelling further than before - more trucks on the road mean more pollution, more noise, more congestion. tractors drive on the farm, trucks drive from the farm to the manufacturer to the distrubution center to the retail store, then cars drive the food home, and then trucks take it to dumps - further removal from the direct supplier means more costs at each level and more transportation 
• air travel emits the most CO2 emissions, however, is it better to cut the food-air miles or the 3rd world industries? the 3rd world will eventually be affected by the 1st world emissions - whats the long term sustainability option? who needs kenyan green beans in december? however distance is not always the problem - more CO2 emissions are produced from local greenhouses sometimes - its not natural to grow green beans in the UK in the winter so it takes more energy to keep the greenhouses warm. 
• CO2 exists naturally in the environment, but the human-induced amounts have had catastrophic effects on the environment - if we don't stabilize the increase in 3 years, we'll breach the level of safety - which requires a reduction of 80% of greenhouse gases. the food sector emits 1/3 of ghg's of which 50% comes from livestock (farts+burps=methane) and fertilizer. 
• polar and glacial melts affect oceanic currents and circulation patterns, sea levels will also rise as water molecules grew with warmer temps, people/cities will disappear with nowhere to live, changing weather patterns (downpours, hurricanes, droughts will affect rain-fed agriculture, land erosion, farmer's reliance on predictive weather for the season), biodiversity will be lost as well as create new pests and spread diseases (mosquitos in warmer weather), low latitude areas already at their limit of heat and water stress upon their crops. wine: warmer weather = sweeter grapes = stronger alcoholic content = changing characteristics = less robust varieties losing out = himalayas the new tuscany. 
• humid zone thinking: a water scarcity generally means that we're dong the wrong thing - either using it in inappropriate ways or in the wrong places (LA is a city in the desert - people can't expect to have lawns, Arizona also should consider dry land thinking, for ex)
• we're feeding food to cattle so that we can eat meat, but by reducing consumption of meat and diary we could reduce carbon enourmously. what are the benefits of livestock production? do we need to eat meat? what about other forms of protein like insects? already popular in Mexico, could we introduce new culinary traditions?
• we are dependent on oil for almost everything as it is our primary source of energy but it is not a healthy relationship as the liklihood of finding new sources is pretty much nilch and not only are we using it and working at maximum capacity, there are new economies with large populations and industries demanding it (China, India). 
• oil prices will probably rise to about $150/barrel in 2011(as of 1 minute ago it is currently $82.83). which will drive up other prices - wheat, rise, sugar, beef. increased food prices + food shortages = crisis...social, political, economic. lots of (food) insecurity! 
• turning biomass into energy (biofuels of corn, soy, etc) - is it more important to feed our cars or to feed stomachs? 

our presentation was on food waste in the household and how it was critical to communicate to people about the amount of food waste they produce through the marketing model of awareness, interest, desire and action.

from what i can recall, at least twice during the course of the week i was in situations where the topics in class were directly applicable. first, in the local A&O supermarket, looking at all the pre-packaged meats, all i could think about was the packaging and the waste it represented and the process of the meat itself, where it came from, how it all looked "perfect" -> what we as consumers want it to look like - uniformly sized skinless, boneless chicken breasts, ruby red marbled meats. what kind of system was i giving in to and what environmental impact would i have on the earth from buying this food that was available and affordable to me? should i go to the macellaio down the street or where do they get their meat from? is it worth it to bargain hunt and discover which supermarket has the cheaper prices - if so, who am i benefitting? the second time was when i was sitting in front of my computer feeling annoyed and stuffed after eating a meal i wasn't even hungry for and doing some reading for our upcoming presentation and test. the article was about food waste and how many starving people there are in the world - it included some ridiculous fact about how many children were blind because they lacked vitamin A. then i felt guilty for feeling annoyed that i ate so much and guilty that i had so many calories even available to me.

it's also ironic to point out that our professor is stuck here in italy for a couple extra days because of a catastrophic environmental factor that has stopped all air traffic: the volcanic ash cloud in Iceland. From a bbcnews article's comment section i found amusing:

Isn't it great? Clear skies day and night untainted by contrails. The scientists will be loving this, the first occasion since 9/11 that they have had to measure the effect of air travel on the atmosphere. Andy, Glasgow
Andy from Glasgow - there is a volcano spewing out large amounts of particulates into the atmosphere. How are the scientists going to measure clean air? Richard Hawes, Herts