Across the Internet, the debate is raging. Which is more ethical, eating meat or quinoa? I posted about this a few days ago, and I’m pleased to see a different point of view has appeared on the Guardian website today. I was a little brief in my last post about some of the underlying issues, so I thought I would take the time to expand on them a bit here in plain English.
I’m really happy more people are getting interested in this!
Commodity Crops and Subsidies
The basic problem is the majority of the world’s food depends on commodity crops, like corn and soy. In the US more corn is used, and in Europe more soy. Corn and soy are not normally environmentally unfriendly to grow, but the same companies which sell the seeds also sell the chemicals, so there is more profit is growing it in energy intensive and environmentally unfriendly ways. Views in the world have also changed in the last 100 years or so, and we now look down upon the idea of producing food with manual labor. We expect all of our food will be produced with a minimum of labor, and with as much heavy equipment as possible. This heavy equipment also causes a lot of damage to the topsoil, severely inhibits it’s ability to sequester carbon and releases significant amounts of greenhouse gases. It’s not cheap to grow food with all this heavy equipment, chemicals and fossil fuels, so governments step into subsidize the costs, in the end making it far cheaper than all other kinds of foods, anywhere. These foods then get exported around the world, where they compete unfairly against other small farmers.
The commodity crops are then used to produce ‘processed foods’. Processed foods are nearly everything you buy at the supermarket or eat at a restaurant, with the exception of fruits and vegetables. In a sense even fruits and vegetables can be processed, because these are often grown with lots of chemicals and fossil fuels too. Meat and dairy rank among the most processed foods, because far more raw ingredients are used in their production than other foods, with meat representing the highest level of consumption.
Unprocessed foods are generally those bought at the farmers market, from a local farmer. You can even buy environmentally friendly meats this way, pasture raised, instead of on commodity crops. The problem is this sort of meat is very hard to come by, and in very high demand. A single cow needs about 5 acres or 2 ha of land to meet all it’s needs, and when it’s 4 years old, will perhaps only provide 500-1000 meals. That’s only one person for a year, who eats meat twice per day! Even if we used all available space in the world, we still couldn’t meet current demand with pasture fed meat.
When you consider all aspects of processed food production, and all sources of greenhouse gases, it means processed food production is the single greatest contributor to climate change — more than all the worlds transportation systems combined! This includes the release of carbon from the soil, the fossil fuels that go into the chemicals and fertilizers used, the transportation involved, the processing, flatulence of the animals, retail and so on.
In addition, minerals are and ground water are mined unsustainably in order to make all of this work.
One way or another, something needs to change. We need to eat less meat, or we need some new technologies for meat production.
Trapped
One of the problems with our current food system, is we are effectively trapped, in many different ways.
All over the world small farmers have been disadvantaged for decades, and there aren’t a lot of them left. We certainly aren’t in a position to turn to them and expect them to feed the world today. They certainly have the potential to do it over time, but not immediately.
One of the major obstacles to small farmers are all the laws, rules, regulations, intellectual property rights and consumer expectations. The big seed and agricultural companies have had decades of exclusive control over these things, and they all take time to change. For a long time now, the agriculture companies have been collecting patents and other rights on almost all of the worlds food supplies or potential food supplies, that it’s unlikely anyone except them will have future rights to sell us food.
The big seed and chemical companies of today are making good money, and have little reason to change. Occasionally there is a concession here or there, like providing certified organic or fairtrade foods, but these often come at much higher cost to the consumer. It’s often argued that organic or fairtrade foods aren’t ‘special’, they’re normal! It’s processed foods and foods grown with chemicals that are special, and these should be sold at their true and unsubsidized prices. But even if the big seed and chemical companies were to see the err of their ways tomorrow, there’s too much momentum in our current food system, and it would take decades to unravel. A big issue in unravelling the current system is meeting consumer expectations, because there would be big changes in the food we eat.
There are huge environmental obstacles to overcome. Nearly all of the worlds agriculture land has been seriously damaged by modern farming methods. There’s a common myth that all land is suitable for organic production after 3 years, no matter what, because this is part of the definition of certified organic foods. There’s a big difference between certified organic, and being able to produce abundant food with organic and environmentally friendly methods.
Finally, governments are trapped into paying huge subsidies. The big agricultural companies control the laws, rules, regulations and intellectual property rights, then turn to governments for subsidies. It’s a sort of legalized extortion. If they don’t get their ever increasing subsidies, they won’t produce food. Politicians don’t want to see food shortages! There’s no indication subsidies are coming down any time soon.
What Can you Do?
Forget everything you’ve ever learned about nutrition. Forget about calories, protein, carbohydrates, Omega-3, sugar, salt — everything. Don’t buy any food that has related health claims. Food companies regularly spend billions of dollars on this sort of education, and in Europe alone recently spent €1,000,000,000 (that’s right, 9 zeros) lobbying for the new European food labels, to teach consumers how to buy processed foods. There is no proof that any health benefits can come by eating more or less of any of these things. Don’t pay attention to these labels.
WHO guidelines state the healthiest diet is one that’s varied and based mostly on starchy carbohydrates like potatoes, rice, pasta, bread or other grains, and fruits and vegetables. It should have some protein sources, like meat or fish if you eat it, but vegetables and whole grains are also a suitable source of protein if you’re vegetarian or vegan.
Buy food that’s as unprocessed as possible, and preferably directly from local farmers. Choose normal, non-GMO sugar, over highly processed sugars like GMO high fructose corn syrup. If it’s not possible to buy from local farmers, eat as low on the food chain as possible, emphasizing natural grains, fruits and vegetables, and other minimally refined foods from trusted sources. Remember chain health food stores are often not any more ethical or environmentally friendly than supermarkets, and many of those are often accused of selling GMO products.
Don’t buy GMOs.
Eat vegetarian or vegan food, partly or completely. You don’t need to be a raving lunatic who demonstrates in opposition to fur coats and leather shoes, or indeed even think meat doesn’t taste good, in order to enjoy good vegan food. In fact most of the worlds population is vegan or nearly vegan, and not political or outspoken about their diet. It’s not at all deviant, haute, trendy, lower class or unusual to enjoy vegan food. There are no common or credible health issues associated with vegan food, and it’s not necessary to supplement it in any way. You can just eat and enjoy it, and you don’t have to pay attention to any insensitivities, accusations, demands, requirements or fear mongering from others. Vegans are naturally just as healthy as anyone else, and in fact avoid many diseases associated with eating too much meat. By eating vegetarian or vegan, you avoid all or most of the environmental and social issues that go along with meat and processed food production.
Think about where your food comes from and how it’s been made! Use common sense, and avoid novel foods. Read the label, and if it has too many or unfamiliar ingredients, don’t buy it.
Choose heirloom or world foods. Quinoa is a great example! These foods are often not yet patented, and farmers are able to save and replant their own seeds. Like with quinoa, they have well established and sustainable methods for growing it, and high demand means more profits for small farmers! Lots of other examples can often be found at farmers markets, or small local health food stores.
Choose foods with as few pesticides and grown as sustainably as possible, for example vegetables usually have fewer pesticide residues than fruit; cabbage family vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts) usually have very few pesticide residues; and citrus and grapes are among the worst for residues. Avoid certified organic unless you are buying a normally high pesticide residue food, or it comes from a local farmer. Certified organic food is often unfair competition against small farmers who can’t afford to spend the time or money for certification. Most small and local farmers can’t afford chemicals, so their produce is usually naturally pesticide free.
If you eat meat, think about where it comes from. Raise it yourself, or buy it from a farmer who raises his animals on pasture. Think about eating less meat.
