The Myth of Sustainable Meat
Oh, there goes that.
A vegetarian lays out the economic realities and environmental impacts of “sustainable” agriculture.
For all the strengths of these alternatives, however, they’re ultimately a poor substitute for industrial production. Although these smaller systems appear to be environmentally sustainable, considerable evidence suggests otherwise.
Grass-grazing cows emit considerably more methane than grain-fed cows. Pastured organic chickens have a 20 percent greater impact on global warming. It requires 2 to 20 acres to raise a cow on grass. If we raised all the cows in the United States on grass (all 100 million of them), cattle would require (using the figure of 10 acres per cow) almost half the country’s land (and this figure excludes space needed for pastured chicken and pigs). A tract of land just larger than France has been carved out of the Brazilian rain forest and turned over to grazing cattle. Nothing about this is sustainable.
The issue is scale - we can’t have 100 million small farms for each household, and industrial agriculture is the only reasonable, viable, and therefore sustainable answer to human food needs. (Pretty please, before you send me angry msgs, I kindly ask you to read FAO’s “Ethical Issues in Food” and UM’s “Ethical Issues in Farming“(PDF). At least skim them, and think in terms of “scale.” Arguments for ethical treatment of ag animals are great. But the case for ethical treatment is not strong enough to eliminate the need for industrial scale farming).
Harvard Science & Cooking Lectures - Eat 'Em Up
Who says you have to get into an ivy league school to experience ivy league awesomeness? Harvard has been teaming scientists up with world-class chefs to deliver lectures on the science of cooking since last year.
And now you can watch them all online! Featuring greats like Ferran Adrià (elBulli), David Chang (momofuku), Wylie Dufresne (wd~50) and more.
Reason #232 to eat less meat. Though, to be fair, this could easily apply to factory-farmed vegetables and fruit as well.
(Source: theintentionalife)
If Food Products Were Honestly Labeled
How do we avoid this booby trap in the grocery store? Don’t shop the aisles! Everything healthy is around the perimeter of the store.
(Source: fuckyeahveganlife)
Going to a farmers market today? (Or ever?) Read this from Tom Philpott: “The local food economy in two charts.”
Organic farms shown to be more productive than conventional farms
A 30-year study by the Rodale Institute (disclaimer: It’s an organic research institute) found that the return per acre of organic farms was almost three times that of conventional farms, and yields were higher for organic crops in drought years.
Part of the gain comes from the premium prices paid for organic goods, but there’s still very meaningful advantages to farming organic:
- Organic farms used 45% less energy than conventional
- Production efficiency was 28% higher for organics
- Soil health increased over time in organic farming systems, as opposed to worsening or remaining constant for conventional
- Organic farms had less water run-off and recharged groundwater reservoirs
- Organic farms were shown to create more rural jobs than conventional
If these organic methods can be expanded to developing nations, the UN thinks that food production worldwide could double in 10 years.
(Source: jtotheizzoe)
(Source: The New York Times)
How Would You Make Our Food System More Awesome?
Our current food system is decidedly not awesome: it subsidizes food that makes us sick and makes it difficult to get ahold of anything fresh. But a micro-grant foundation, called Awesome Food, that launched last week is trying to make it better. Starting next month, it intends to give out $1,000 per month to “further food awesomeness in the universe.” If you get your application in by August 5, you could be the winner of the first round of money.
According to the website, the “no-strings attached grant” could fund a variety of projects—everything from “educating the public about DIY farming” to “creating an ad-hoc eatery in a subway car.”
“We’re not entirely sure what ideas we’ll get—that’s part of the fun of this!” said Jeff Potter, a food writer and foundation trustee. “But we’ll know awesomeness when we see it.”
Awesome Food is a chapter of the worldwide Awesome Foundation, a microgrant funder that launched in Boston two years ago and now includes chapters in cities around the world. (The food chapter is the first issue-based one). Awesome Food’s board of trustees includes an all-star set of foodies including Dan Barber of Blue Hill Farms in New York and food journalist Jennifer 8. Lee. They’ve set a high bar for awesomeness, so step up your game. According to Lee, they’ve already received a bunch of great applications.
“further food awesomeness in the universe”. I love this.
