I have always considered myself to be an educated foodie; one of those diminishing few who knows where their food comes from. Alternatively it seems as though I know a lot less than I thought. Perhaps the truly disturbing fact is that I am not the only one.
I grew up on a farm. This in of itself is a rare thing. My family always had some or all of the following at any given time: sheep, cows, chickens, goats, a garden, fruit trees,nut trees, and rabbits. The common denominator that links all of these elements is that fact that they provide food for humans. Meat was rarely purchased at the store in my house. Eggs came from chickens that lived happy lives out doors and pesticides where never used on our garden. Regardless, I always have taken these food sources for granted until I went to college.
Living in an apartment severely limits the amount of resident animals and the ability for one to grow their own garden. So I was bound to relying on the good ole' grocery store for my food supply. Not such a bad thing. I am pretty adapt at cooking and eating well. So life was good.
Until I had a rather interesting wake up call a few days ago. I picked up Michael Pollan's The Ominivore's Dilemma, interested in finding out what this rather controversial book had to say. The more I read the more I realized how corrupt something as simple as providing food has become. To add insult to injury I watched Food Inc., a film that nearly echos Mr. Pollan's words without meaning to, and read few chapters of the classic The Jungle by Upton Sinclair which attacked the meat packing industry. The more I uncover the more I see the painful flaws in our food system but am unsure how to change them. Most would just say the answer would be to change our diets and how we spend our money. That's a start. But is it the fix? I doubt it.
In the next few posts I doubt I will come up with any original ideas or means of solving this problem. In fact I will probably do no more than echo the sentiments of Mr. Pollan and numerous others who rally for this fix. But I do hope to educate those who are unaware of the food industries shortcomings and ad a simpler means of viewing the problem as I see it.
Until next time,
Happy Thrusday.
-C
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