Why Such a Frantic System? The Importance of Re-localizing the Food System

6/17/2015 WhySuchAFranticSystem?TheImportanceofRelocalizingtheFoodSystem

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NEWS / ENVIRONMENTAL / WHY SUCH A FRANTIC SYSTEM? THE IMPORTANCE OF RE-LOCALIZING THE FOODSYSTEM FOR COMMUNITIES AND PEOPLE

Why Such A Frantic System? TheImportance of Re-localizing the FoodSystem for Communities and People17 Jun 2015 by Annie Levine Leave a Comment (Edit)

I have often noticed the far off lands that my food comes from. For example, the navel orange that mygrandfather gave to me the other day was from South Africa, the garlic at the grocery store comes fromChina, my avocados are a product of Peru and honey for my tea is from Argentina! Many highly processedfoods require preservative products that are chemical in nature or may come from far off lands. Thesepractices are detrimental to societal values for two main reasons. First, it is overly consumptive of ournatural energy supplies. Think about how much jet fuel it takes to transport a constant supply of fruit, aperishable item, to the United States from South Africa, China, Peru or Argentina on a daily, even weeklybasis. Secondly, consuming food from other parts of the world, contributes to the demise of communities.

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Credit: Mikhail Estevez

Re-localization is Best

Large scale agriculture has negative environmental health implications including pesticides, herbicides,fungicides, preservatives and synthetic fertilizers. The use of these products also contributes to an energyintensive, delocalized food system. For example, a common food preservative is palm oil. Palm oil isgrown on plantations that are created by clearing natural habitat in the coastal regions of Africa. Thiswidely used preservative contributes to biodiversity loss by removing natural habitat. Our dependence onfoods that require long shelf lives are therefore directly contributing to negative environmental and societalimplications. Habitat loss means loss of exotic flora and fauna. Second, consumption of these deadfoods removes human beings from a relationship with the life-generating land. Many people are not awareof the contents of these foods, the effects and consequences they have on their bodies and becomeindifferent to the disconnect between man, nature, preservation and ethical behavior towards our MotherEarth.

Credit: U.S. Dept. ofAgriculture



The Cash Register Is the Daily Voting Machine

By spending money on products that contain damaging products, we are voting in favor of a system thatwreaks havoc on ecosystems and our all providing entities. Foods that require great deals of energycontribute to Global Climate Change, species diversity loss, cultural monism and globalization. I believethat we must have a new reverence and awakening for life where we celebrate and promote peace, health,prosperity and culture.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your vocabulary. Allthat we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones weve been waitingfor.

The Elders, Oraibi, Arizona, Hopi Nation

Greenhouse Gases Per US Food Sector

Red Meat 30%

Dairy Products 18%

Cereals/Carbs 11%

Fruit/Vegetables 11%

Chicken/Fish/Eggs 10%

Other 9%

Beverages 6%

Oils/Sweets/Condiments 5%



Credit: Oxfam International

Local economies and communities can only serve to be enhanced by a movement towards a localized foodsystem. Local food is not only fresher and tastes better; it provides us with a sense of place, aligning uswith the seasons. Commodities such as spices, coffee, chocolate and bananas can be sourced as fairtrade products, meaning that farmers are fairly compensated for their products and that workingconditions are safe and appropriate. The Fair Trade Federation and Global Exchange employs stringentregulations in order for businesses to be certified as fair trade so we are better able to trust when foodsand products are labeled as so.

Developing Culture and Community

By buying food that is produced close to home, we are also able to develop relationships with those whohave produced our food. This makes the experience of eating more fulfilling to our souls, after all we arehumans experiencing, not machines! We are gifted with emotions and senses that reveal enjoyment andpleasure. We must do all that we can to move away from pain and suffering. Research shows that almost16,000 children of the world die annually from hunger-related illness-or one child every five seconds. 963million people around the world are hungry and chronically malnourished. Impoverished and hungry peopleof Haiti often eat mud cakes baked in the sun so they can provide themselves and their families withminerals for nourishment.

Circumstances like these exist all over the world, yet storehouses of packaged and preserved food are filledto the brim. Elimination of the frantic food system that preserves and stores and ships and pollutes willhelp to eliminate the global hunger atrocities from the world. The global food production system is wellequipped to feed all people of the world, the problem therein lies in distribution. I believe that if less effortwas spent on shipping out of season strawberries to stock supermarkets in Manhattan, energy (both



physical and mental) would remain in order to provide for all citizens of the world. It is projected that thenumber of the worlds hungry will reach 1.2 billion by 2025. The Food Sovereignty movement seeks toenhance the rights of communities and people through the elimination of a purely profit seeking agriculturalsystem.

The best way to tell whether we are moving in the direction of a greater wellbeing is by listening to ourinner messages of comfort or distress. Our highest evolutionary path is the one that generates the leastresistance and the most joy.

David Simon, M.D.

Credit: Mike Wingate

Simplify

Our daily choices affect heavily the well being of other people and cultures all over the world. Although thismay not be obviously evident, it is our social and moral responsibility to recognize this reality and actaccordingly. By choosing a simpler food system, one that moves with the seasons, provides fresh foodssourced from local vendors and rejects highly processed and preserved items, we can influence a balancingeffect on the equal distribution of food for people all over the world and one which values and nourishes ourlife giving planet.

Works Cited

Compiled by the Sustainable World Coalition. (2010). Sustainable world sourcebook: Critical issues, viable



solutions, resources for action. (1st ed.). Berkeley, California: Sustainable World Coalition.

Hinrichs, C. C., & Lyson, T. A. (2007). Remaking the north american food system: Strategies forsustainablitiy. (1st ed.). Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.

The Worldwatch Institute. (2010). State of the world: transforming cultures. (1st ed.). New York: W.W.Norton and Company.

Filed Under: Environmental, Health & Nutrition, Minimalism & Finances, News

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Why Such a Frantic System? The Importance of Re-localizing the Food System