Survey: The Politics of Food
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.27.06
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
According to the New York Times, it was a year of change in the way we eat. In America food safety was an issue as everyone ran from spinach and carrot juice. Michael Pollan's book "The Omnivore's dilemma" helped focus people's attention on where their food came from; eithical treatment of animals became a concern for many, from Foie gras in Chicago to lobster at Whole foods. Local food and the Hundred mile diet became big. Organics came to Wal-Mart.
I would have clicked looks for more ethically grown meat, but I don't eat it. Instead, I promote it as a meat option to my meat eating friends.
I clicked looks for local and organic and I'm going out for a whopper. I love meat and will never stop eating it. I really don't know what ethically grown is. How do you unethically grow anything?
None of these responses suit my true diet change. This year I decided to commit full on to the vegetarian diet I started when I worked for the Teva Learning Center a year ago. After fall 2005, I switched to solely vegetarian cooking at home but still ate some animals when eating out. Now, I have given up on animals wherever I'm eating.
yeah man i became a vegan this year!!! treehugger is always saying that veg diets are better for the environment, but i don't see it on the poll :( other than that i checked local and organic too.
LA: it isn't on the poll because I was looking at trends discussed in the New York Times article, and also thought that it was not an issue about meat or not, but about local/organic. It should have been!
I think when it says "ethically grown meat", it means animals reared in open, free-range environments and fed a natural diet. Also, where the growth of the animal is not encouraged by unnatural or intensive farming practices.
Chickens are just one example of intensively-reared meat. The chickens are kept in cramped barns and rarely (if at all) let out to roam.
As consumers, we can influence these practices by the choices we make when we purchase meat. Are we prepared to pay more for free-range and organic produce (even if it means purchasing less to compensate for the higher cost)? Or is the price of intensively-reared meat too tempting?
A vegetarian/vegan option would have been welcome. Since I've beenveg/vegan for more than 30 years, I chose the "already there" option. Perhaps another poll, another time... If you do have another poll, you might also ask if people are choosing to eat less animal products... every little bit helps the environment and the animals and your health. Thanks.
The Omnivore's dilemma was my favorite book this year. -a powerful must read. Purchase a copy and pass it around. It's loaded with powerful information and history that leaves you more aware, naturally making wiser food choices and purchases.
Thank you Michael!
Happy News from,
Beklina
www.beklina.com
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