Raj Patel's new book The Value of Nothing begins with a quote from Oscar Wilde: "People today know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
When it comes to food this could not be more true. At what cost to eco-systems and health do consumers enjoy cheap and abundant food? Industrial food practices (the kind of practices that grow 99.99% of the food eaten in North America, and are responsible for cheap and abundant food) rely on a moral system in which the natural world is either completely neglected, or seen as a hindrance to economic growth. This same system is also made possible ONLY because it consistently denies workers the most basic of rights, including a fair wage.
Some of the ecological costs of industrial practices in the raising of cattle:
overgrazing of land creates serious soil erosion. Cattle that are left to graze without proper management of the land destroy living soil.
industrial feed lots create tons of manure waste that end up in rivers and streams.
corn and soybean production (to feed the cattle) have decimated the Amazon rain forest
-Darci
thanks for this, darci.
ReplyDeletemaybe we could do a podcast where we go to restaurants and trace the food to where it came from and what agro practices were used...of course accompanied by some great 80s talk show music.