Food for Thought:
I found this lecture to be completely fascinating. It is about the impact of the modern day food chain on our health and environment. My belief is that we are entering a period of sustained commodity inflation due to many factors: peak oil, emerging populations, global warming, etc. etc. The higher prices that we are paying for energy and food are just starting to be felt within our social fabric. There is still a lot of denial and hope that prices will come back down. I'm not counting on it. When the migration away from that hope moves to acceptance it will create a great opportunity to affect some positive changes and policies that will be more environmentally friendly. What our government hasn't done on it's own is going to be dictated by a force they simply cannot control...supply and demand.
Which leads me to this lecture about how our over consumption of animals and processed foods is impacting us in ways most Americans do not understand. The water and land resources that we use to raise animals for slaughter is simply not sustainable. And this is before you count the contribution to global warming from methane. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to stop eating a juicy steak or Dorritos anytime soon, but I will try to eat them less often. I hope this gives everyone a little food for thought!
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html
Enjoy.
J
2 comments:
glad to see you've entered the blogosphere!
I'll def take a look at that Bittman lecture on the TED site.
I do agree with the sentiment that our overconsumption of animals and processed foods (and esp processed animals?) is not sustainable..though I have to admit I don't many of the details of why that is.
That's one reason I'm looking fwd to watching the Bittman lecture. Also, I'm looking forward to reading Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma"; a friend just loaned it to me.
One positive is that it seems like people are becoming much more aware of these issues, and hopefully that will make a difference.
Let's keep the conversation going!
PS: Just realized we have a cookbook by Bittman on our bookshelf!
To keep on filling
is not as good as stopping.
Overfilled, the cupped hands drip,
better to stop pouring.
Sharpen a blade too much
and its edge will be lost.
Fill you house with jade and gold
and it bings insecurity.
Puff yourself with honor and pride
and no one can save you from a fall.
Retire when the work is done.
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