"A man walks down the street says why am soft in the middle now? Why am I soft in the middle, the rest of my life is so hard?" ~Paul Simon, Call Me Al
Today I had the opportunity to go to a presentation on sustainable farming and the products that are produced from it. For a while now our farming practices have been called to attention. Films like Food Inc. and Forks Over Knives show the industrial side of things and how awful things have gotten, especially on the animal side of things. Suffice to say its not a new topic, but its certainly not one that will be ended anytime soon.
It is hard to say industrial farming is bad. I believe it is more correct to say that industrial farming has become bad, fallen to the allude of greed and need instead of standing on principles. Industrialism had a lot of flaws, but it also had a lot of perks. The lives we are so comfortable in today come from this movement and industrial farming played a big part in creating that comfort. Honestly, it wasn't industrial farming that failed us, somewhere along the way it became capitalistic farming and that's where things started getting dicey. I get it. Farming doesn't yield a lot of money and the game is always changing 'improvements' are being made everyday to the point where we our out-engendering ourselves. I know farmers who accidentally ran themselves out of business because they created a use for their product that never went bad so the supply for their product began to dry up.
Some people take the stance of not partaking of the flawed product anymore, in this case I mean vegans and vegetarians. They can't stand the animal cruelty, the horrific practices, the absurd conditions, or the poisonous medications that are pumped into our animals, our food supply. To them, I tip my hat. What they do takes some serious dedication, passion, and vigilance. Those not into the animal-free scene would probably be surprised at the amount of things that animal parts and products are a part of. Forsaking all these things to put a dent in the profit margins of big farming is certainly one way of attacking the problem, but I am not convinced that its a real solution.
Farming, like I said earlier, has become a game of economics and capitalism. The point is to sell a product, if a certain group of people stop consuming that product then they are no longer a viable source of revenue. Big Farms know that the entire population will not turn vegan/vegetarian overnight-if ever- so they know there will always be a demand for their product. The people who will make the biggest impact on farming practices will be the consumers, the people they know they get their money from. If we want farming to change we must demand that change.
The changes, whatever they may be depending on what kinds of farms we are talking about, will come when we explain that we DO want to keep eating their product, we just don't want to eat all the other crap that comes with it. We have to express our interest in continuing to support our agriculture but advocating that they, at the very least, curb their practices.
A lot of this will happen when we gain knowledge about our food and how it is produced. The more we know the more involved we'll want to get. Something that was mentioned in the talk today was that sustainable farms often welcome visitors. They are happy to show you their lands and their animals, they WANT to show you what they are all about because it is a point of pride for them. They have no fear of the public eye because they aren't doing anything that can be portrayed as shameful or bad. They WANT you to know where your food comes from and how it comes about. Most of the time, if ever, Big farms do not want to give you a tour of their operation. In fact, there are still plenty of instances where people have been thrown in jail for trying to get footage of what its like inside one of those places. Granted, these people are probably trespassing and can be seen as a security risk, plus they most likely had to break in to achieve their goals, but the point still stands albeit on shaky legs.
Right now there is this truly beautiful thing happening in the world of food. Education. People want to know where their food is coming from and how its made. Is it really so far a stretch to look at how it was taken care of while it was still in the ground or walking around? The more knowledge we have on this subject the better we will all be. Yes, the footage that can be found can also be gruesome, but isn't that the point? Should we shy away from something that is a cornerstone of our everyday? How our food came to our table should not make us nauseated. If we feel sick from the information, why do we keep stuffing our faces and expecting ignorance to cure all our ails? Big farming is all about supply and demand so why is it such an absurd thought to some that we demand more of our supply?
My cash flow is a sparse vein. I cannot always eat the way I believe in. Big farms know this and they know that I am not the only one, they count on it, in fact. This won't stop the change that is coming, though, just slow it down. I am no expert on the matter, but I can get there. The more we know, the more power we will have, and the more good we can do.
America is not known for is influx of healthy citizens. In fact, the rest of the world sees us as that fat spoiled sibling who threw a few temper tantrums and got their way too many times. We are known for our ridiculously fatty food and our rotund midsections, and for good reason. We are also know as a country of people who never take a break. So many of us work so hard for so long so we can provide for ourselves and our families, it seems absurd that we fall short when it comes to matters of what fuels us and what, in reality, rules us. There is more on the line here than the welfare of our animals, our meat, or our crops, our very own welfare is, too.
Like I said, I'm no expert so I'll stop there before my soapbox sermon gets preachy. I guess the summation is this; get to know your food. Have a relationship with it and see if you can stomach it. If not, break up with your current food and get into a new kind of relationship with your food. Remember, communication is key in any relationship so, start speaking up.
Some links on the subject:
http://www.sustainabletable.org/246/sustainable-agriculture-the-basics
http://www.sare.org
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