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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Food & agriculture news - June 4

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
  • To: "Douglas Willhite" <drwillhite@earthlink.net>, livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Food & agriculture news - June 4
  • Date: Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:03:58 -0600


Of course it's not only about food miles. Maybe someday The Guardian
scientists will catch up with us.

Very interesting - they write "In order for food to be sustainable, it must
be grown, processed, sold and consumed in such a way that it doesn't
deplete the earth's resources, create injustice, or cause harm". And this
happens to be precisely what we've been promoting, specific practices that
grow more in less space, conserve water and improve soil, avoid fossil
fuels and chemicals made from them, avoid power equipment (no-till) and
debt, and in so doing make the growing more profitable to sustain the
grower. And we know these practices work to do all these things. I'm
following many, many others who've done the same, and it's not rocket
science.

But then they offer a "sustainable" diet that fails their own test. Here's
their "super eco-diet" from that same web page
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2094855,00.html :

A typical day on the diet
Breakfast: Cereal and milk, tea/coffee (from weekly allowance half as large
as normal diet)
or
Toast and jam (or marmalade)
Lunch: Avocado and poached egg with toast
or
Black-eye bean, rocket and pinenut salad
Dinner: Spinach, leek and pinenut risotto with yoghurt.
Fruit salad
or
Pork cassoulet with mustard, honey and cinnamon, served with green salad.
Sweet pancakes with jam, honey, tahini, chocolate sauce or yoghurt
Drinks/Treats: Two glasses of beer, pack of fruit pastilles, two Jaffa
Cakes
or
One can cola and nine boiled sweets
-------------

Now, I'm not advocating something I can't live by myself. But consider
those items by their own standards. Cereal comes from grains grown with
enormous fossil fuel inputs, and so does milk and toast. Ditto for yogurt
and pancakes. Is all that refined white flour? Sweets at breakfast, sweets
at dinner. And the ecological footprint of beer, from grain, is... what?
Off the charts, and it's empty calories anyway. Cola? So acid you can clean
your toilet with it, or battery posts. And is that a diet cola poisoned
with Aspartame? Gimme a break.

But their point is about "food miles". I think they're straining at a gnat
and laboring the obvious. "food grown locally could have a considerably
bigger footprint than food flown halfway around the world" they say. Well,
possibly. But what are the chances? Not likely.

>A better system, she argues, would be one that considers all environmental
>impacts from farm to dinner plate. One option is ecological footprint
>analysis, which takes into account the amount of land needed to provide
>the resources to produce food, both directly on the farm and indirectly
>from the energy that goes into growing, harvesting, processing, packaging
>and transporting it.

Good. But they give no clue as to how to make a total food system that's
more eco-friendly. We've been doing it quite a while, haven't we. Using
less land to produce more, growing organically, marketing direct in the
local community without processing or packaging, all these things can do
exactly that.

But I don't write for The Guardian, UK.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 6/5/2007 at 8:49 AM Douglas Willhite wrote:

>Food & agriculture news - June 4
>
>
>The eco-diet ... and it's not just about food miles
>James Randerson, The Guardian
>Consumers need more information about the environmental impact of the food
>in their shopping basket if they are to make eco-friendly choices,
>according to researchers who have carried out a detailed analysis of the
>ecological costs associated with food. They argue that the focus on "food
>miles" is missing the bigger picture and may be counter-productive.
>
>Food stores such as Tesco and Marks & Spencer have said that they will
>label products that have been transported by air. But according to the
>researchers, only around 2% of the environmental impact of food comes from
>transporting it from farm to shop. The vast majority of its ecological
>footprint comes from food processing, storage, packaging and growing
>conditions. So food grown locally could have a considerably bigger
>footprint than food flown halfway around the world, and consumers who make
>their choices on air miles alone may be doing more environmental harm,
>according to the scientists.
>
>"I'm a bit worried about the food miles [debate] because it is educating
>the consumer in the wrong way. It is such an insignificant point," said
>Ruth Fairchild at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff. "Those
>[foods] could have been produced using pesticides that have travelled all
>the way around the world. If you just take food miles, it is the tiny bit
>on the end."
>
>A better system, she argues, would be one that considers all environmental
>impacts from farm to dinner plate. One option is ecological footprint
>analysis, which takes into account the amount of land needed to provide
>the resources to produce food, both directly on the farm and indirectly
>from the energy that goes into growing, harvesting, processing, packaging
>and transporting it
>(4 June 2007)
>
>
>
>
>Deconstructing Dinner: Farming in the City II (Audio)
>Jon Steinman, Global Public Media
>Many forms of urban agriculture have existed for thousands of years. For
>city dwellers growing food in backyards or even on window sills, this is
>essentially, farming in the city.
>
>As practical and environmentally friendly as growing food within a city
>can be, the art of gardening has seemingly disappeared in many urban
>settings. As current farming practices are proving to be unsustainable in
>the long-term, urban agriculture is looked upon by many as being a
>critical shift that needs to take place if we are to ensure a level of
>food security in the near and distant future.
>
>This broadcast marks the second of an ongoing series that will explore
>urban agriculture in British Columbia, Canada, and around the world
>(listen to part 1 here). Featured on the broadcast will be the launch of
>an on-line community of gardeners with the hope that every lawn in British
>Columbia will contain a food producing garden. We will learn of an
>innovative project that links up underutilized backyard garden space with
>those willing to urban farm it. When we think of urban agriculture, rarely
>do we think of growing mushrooms! The steps on how to go about becoming an
>urban mushroom grower will be shared on this broadcast.
>(10 May 2007)
>
>
>
>
>
>How to Save Cooking Energy and 90% Reduction Reminder
>Sharon Astyk, Casaubon's Book
>Today, the last day of May, is your last chance to get in on the ground
>floor of the 90% reduction project!! There are nearly 100 people signed
>up, and more than 25 blogs going! We would be thrilled if you wanted to
>join as well. Remember, you can start anytime, and you don't have to
>achieve 90%.
>
>Here's the link to Miranda's blog where the rules, FAQ and Intro are
>posted if you want to learn more about the project:
>simplereduce.wordpress.com/riot-for-austerity-90-reduction-project-intro/
>
>If you want to discuss the project, we have a yahoogroup devoted to the
>subject - you can join by sending an email here:
>90PercentReduction-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>How many people do you think we can get this up to? Enough for a press
>release? A movement? A revolution? When Miranda and I cooked this up, we
>had no idea it would be so popular - we're so excited.
>
>In the spirit of our really riotous reduction, I've been thinking about
>how to cut my cooking energy down as much as possible. Here are 25 ways
>I've come up with to cut cooking energy.
>
>1. Turn off the stove/oven before you are finished. This is fairly simple
>- when you soup is almost hot, turn off the stove - it will continue to
>heat for a while. When your bread is 15 minutes short of baked, turn off
>the oven and let it sit in the hot oven. You can do this for longer with
>things that are hotter for longer, or less sensitive, like casseroles. Be
>cautious with meat - you don't want food poisoning. Experiment.
>
>2. Eat more salads, sandwiches and raw foods that don't require cooking.
>(31 May 2007)
>
>
>
>
>Principle 18: Sustainable Food
>WorldChanging Team
>Nothing is more personal than food. It forces us to make decisions every
>day that have real and immediate impact, which means learning about what
>we're eating and figuring out how to make good choices is essential. As
>environmental issues move to the forefront of public consciousness, the
>meaning of a good choice doesn't just have to do with a food pyramid or a
>nutrition label, but with knowing where your food came from, how it got to
>you, and who was involved in that process.
>
>Food is one of the primary subjects with which we deal when talking about
>backstory, since it's one of the most accessible means of understanding
>the life of an item prior to its arrival in your hand. In many ways, food
>is also one of the best and easiest places to push for a change in that
>backstory, whether calling for different conditions for the producers,
>demanding a change in a product's contents, selecting a new source, or
>deciding to grow your own.
>
>It's also becoming more common for schools to offer healthier food in the
>lunchroom and better education in the classroom (or the school garden),
>setting kids up at a young age to feel empowered with good knowledge
>enough to make good decisions as they grow older. Many of these
>educational programs, particularly in urban areas, work to establish
>urban-rural connections that support farmers and make city-dwellers more
>aware of and connected to the origins of their food.
>
>In order for food to be sustainable, it must be grown, processed, sold and
>consumed in such a way that it doesn't deplete the earth's resources,
>create injustice, or cause harm. The more we know about the whole story of
>our food, the better able we are to judge whether it's good for the planet
>and good for us.
>(30 May 2007)
>.
>
>
>
>
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