The Empty refrigerator

 

            It was 2005. I was visiting my home country Georgia with my daughter. We were at my sister’s apartment. My little girl opened a refrigerator, turned to me and asked – “Mom, why is their refrigerator empty?” My heart sunk. My sister had only a one-day meal prepared and maybe a few more items, but in comparison with our stuffed fridge back in Florida, there was a huge difference.

            It was then and there that I realized – my daughter doesn’t have a clue where food comes from and she doesn’t have any appreciation for it. So many times I complained at home when I had to throw away rotten vegetables, fruit, and leftovers of perfectly healthy food that she didn’t want to eat. I, as a parent, failed to teach her to appreciate one of the biggest gifts that our planet grants to us – food. She was taking everything for granted.

            In Georgia we have a saying - a full person can never understand hunger. In Georgia food is highly valued. I remember how my grandma picked-up a piece of bread that somebody dropped on the road, kissed it, and put it on a public bench. She turned to me and said “A lot of people put their time and effort to make this bread. It’s holy!” It seems to me that the more we have the less we appreciate, and the less we appreciate the more disconnected we are from each other and from nature.

            Can we say that the ignorance of where food comes from, what it takes to grow, produce and prepare it leads to the devaluation of food, as well as the enormous amount of food waste we allow ourselves to create? Not only do we throw away the final product of the food chain without guilt or hesitation, but we also produce waste from the start to the end of this chain.

            “In nature there is no such thing as a waste problem, since one creature’s waste becomes another creature’s lunch” (Pollen, 214). But I assume we are not part of nature anymore; we fall well outside of a healthy ecosystem. What’s wrong with this picture?!

            According to Waste Age, “Americans throw away 1.3 pounds of food every day, or 474.5 pounds per year.” Food waste includes uneaten portions of meals as well as trimmings from food preparation activities in kitchens, restaurants and cafeterias. WasteCap Wisconsin states that over one fourth of all food produced for human consumption goes to waste. The annual value of this excess food is estimated at around $31 billion – all of this money thrown into the dumpsters. Waste companies report “food waste is the third-larges component of generated waste by weight. However, because of its low composting rate, food waste is the largest component of discarded waste by weight” (WasteAge).

            In the seventh principle of the Earth Charter we read, “Reduce, reuse, and recycle the materials used in production and consumption systems, and ensure that residual waste can be assimilated by ecological systems.” It doesn’t matter how great the document is, if we will not put it into practice, if we personally will not incorporate it into our daily lives, it will stay just what it is – a document!

            So, I am moving from thoughts to action. In my household, to decrease our footprints on planet and move forward to sustainable living we are going to:

       ·         Develop an appreciation for food through educating ourselves   on this subject, to become conscious consumers (where food comes from, what it takes to produce it, what is the cost, who is benefiting?)

·         Find ways to support local farmers and make our diets healthier 

·         Eliminate food waste (through proper recycling and composting)

·         Build a backyard vegetable garden and connect to nature.

            I understand that my plan may sound ambitious, but a wise man said, “A long journey starts by taking the first step” and “If you want to change world, start from yourself!”

           

 

 

 

 

 

Reference:

 

Waste Age – www.wasteage.com

 

WasteCap Wisconsin, Inc – www.wastecapwi.org

 

The Earth Charter - http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/content/

 

Pollan, M. (2006). Omnivore’s Dilemma. Penguin Books Ltd.

 

 

Pictures on this blog are courtesy of : The Goldenspiral.org; and A Man Looking Inside an Empty Refrigerator - Royalty Free Clipart Picture.

Conformity or rebellion – isn’t it time to change how and what we eat? The scattered thoughts of a social ecologist

            Old wisdom says, “We are what we eat”, but until recently I rarely thought about it much. When I was reading Fast Food Nation and Omnivore’s Dilemma, I had all kinds of emotions, starting from horror (is THIS what I am eating?), shock (why didn’t I know about this before?), shame (that we allow it to happen), apathy (what can I do against such a gigantic machine?) to anger (It’s wrong and it needs to be changed).

            I cannot say that the information was totally new to me, but the realization of how everything is actually intertwined was overwhelming. It was as if I was looking at a mosaic, standing so close that I could only see one small piece of it. Suddenly, I feel as if now I have stepped back and can see the whole picture! When I tried to reflect on my own thoughts and feelings, I realized the turmoil of my emotions came from the realization that the food industry (to be more precise – food corporations) not only poison the planet, destroy ecosystem, exploit, discriminate and devaluate its workforce, but use US (meaning consumers) to achieve it’s goal. It was painful, but I realized that if I allow it to happen (and I do, because I am supporting this process with my consumption) it means that I am the oppressor, I am the one who is responsible for the degradation of this planet.  Schlosser writes, “hundreds of millions of people buy fast food every day without giving it much thought, unaware of the subtle and not so subtle ramifications of their purchases. They rarely consider where this food came from, how it was made, what it is doing to the community around them.” (FFN, p10)  Yes, I am one of them.

            The Earth Charter gave me the hope. This international declaration of fundamental values and principles calls us to action; to unite and save this little planet before its too late. When I started reflecting on the Earth Charter principles in the Omnivore’s Dilemma and Fast Food Nation, I realized that from all 16 principles laid out in this document, I couldn’t find one that is respected and incorporated into the modern industrial production and consumption of food as described by Pollan and Schlosser.

            The Earth Charter talks about the interdependency of all beings, about the protection of biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain life. According to Pollan, our agricultural diversity came down to a monoculture of corn, which degrades the soil and all living beings around it. It’s not just one crop from many, but the only one - it’s majesty - the king Corn. Corn is “responsible for pushing out not only other plants but the animals and then finally the people, too” (OD, p.38). Of course corn couldn’t do it by itself. Responsible are those, who consider  “efficiency” as the most important characteristic for industrial farms, and simplification as the way to achieve it.

“In fact, the whole history of agriculture is a progressive history of simplification, as humans reduced the biodiversity of their landscapes to a small handful of chosen species… By contrast, the efficiencies of natural systems flow from complexity and interdependence – by definition the very opposite of simplification. ” (OD, p. 214).

            In the Earth Charter principle 10 reads – “ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner”; principle 12 – “ uphold the right of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity, bodily health, and spiritual well-being,…eliminate discrimination…honor and support the young people of our communities…” What can I say? Our food industry is far away from these standards. Not only it doesn't support it, but it is the main cause of discrimination and oppression in our modern society’s workforce. In the review of Fast Food Nation Andrew Roe writes,

“Schlosser presents a litany of charges against the fast-food companies and their practices: marketing to children, establishing the indentured servitude of franchising, manipulating a minimum-wage workforce (primarily young, unskilled, recent immigrants) by withholding medical benefits, perpetuating turnover to deter unionization, yet taking full advantage of government subsidies for nonexistent "training." These are just a few of the greed-is-good tactics employed to keep profits high.”

            I believe that everything in the world is interconnected. The present environmental and ecological problems are direct consequences of the social problems we, as human beings, create. The goal of nature is not to make a profit, but to have balance and harmony. Yet we haven’t managed to build a society on anything other than the hierarchical organization of power. As Social Ecologists claim, “the domination of nature by man stems from the very real domination of human by human” (Murray Bookchin).

            The alternative is a society founded on the notion of interconnectedness and interdependency – “we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny” – says the Earth Charter. For me this document is a call for action; “the choice is ours: form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living.”

            When I was reading Fast Food Nation and Omnivore’s Dilemma I couldn’t help but have a sinking feeling inside me; not only are we treated as cattle, we are acting as cattle. It is time to stop conforming to those who put money before the well being of our society. It is time to rebel against those in the food industry who are poisoning our people. We must retreat from the idea that we cannot do anything, and at the very least, begin a campaign of awareness.

           

           

Note:  The pictures used in this post is courtesy of  Save the Kales - http://savethekales.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/political-optimism/

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