In addition to reading books, doing interviews and writing reflection papers on the subject of the local food movement in North America, our group is also responsible for watching different videos where Michael Pollan (a renowned food activist) talks more deeply on the subject.
The video I watched was a Bill Moyer interview (I have posted part 2 of that interview for your viewing pleasure) I found it an excellent summarization of the many different faucets I have been learning about regarding our nations food system.
The sharp rise in heart diseases and diabetes over the passed 30 years is in direct correlation to the increases in proceeded foods intake for the average American.
Michael Pollan refers to this crises as a literal fresh food desert. There is a rise in demand for locally grown organic produce in urban areas specifically among low income and underserved communities. Many city stores offer countless processed food options and very minimal varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables. It is my opinion that this is entirely unacceptable. Having a healthy diet is an individuals choice but many families do not even have the option to eat healthy having no access to fresh food.
Luckily there is a slow food movement in the works and many farmers markets have begun accepting food stamps and there are also a demand for fresh produce to be served in schools http://www.farmtoschool.org/ hospitals http://www.worldchanging.com/local/seattle/archives/008389.html and jail http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/blogs/80days/2009/06/table-for-two-at-the-county-jail.html
Pollan encourages us to all grow a garden and to cook again he claims that we have turned cooking into a spectator sport, and if we were to spend the time that we watch cooking shows actually cooking we would find we have plenty of time to make dinner. He promotes cooking as the best way to declare your independence from the culture of fast food.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/magazine/02cooking-t.html?pagewanted=6&_r=1
We have gradually lost touch with some of life’s basic pleasures. We have bought into the propaganda that this country can not feed itself without help from corn syrup. We need to work together organizing our agriculture using sustainable farming practices and not being afraid to spend and afternoon in our kitchens.
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Erin--and Elise and Sam,
ReplyDeleteI know that it isn't in your syllabus, but I wonder if it might be in your future to prepare somekind of "local food" dish for our next residency? No requirement, but I think it might be a effective way to articulate your learning to others in the class.
"We need to let a thousand flowers bloom. We need to try many things in many places and try to figure out what works." What a great image Pollen can paint. The notion that there is beauty in just trying. I also appreciate his discussion of Wendall Berry's "Cheap Energy Mind", that we don't realize what we can do for ourselves. I have called it "wanting to be spoon fed", but basically if we start growing our own food, we realize what we can accomplish on our own, without the industries who "feed" us. Thanks for posting this!!
ReplyDeleteYour comment about heart disease and diabetes reminded me of two articles I've read recently:
ReplyDelete"Do contaminants play a role in diabetes? Evidence is growing." This links environmental contaminants to health problems like diabetes - i.e., it's more than just what we eat, or perhaps, it's in what we eat.
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/diabetes-and-environmental-contaminants
"Tables are turning on Big Food." Now that two-thirds of Americans are overweight, the lethal effects of fat are catching up to those of smoke, writes columnist Ellen Goodman. We are beginning to see that Overweight America is not some collective collapse of national willpower, but a business plan.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2009527115_egoodman24.html
Laura, powerful comment that Overweight America is not a collapse of willpower but a business plan!
ReplyDeleteTo All, Tom and I watched both video clips last night and the take away - this country needs someone like Pollan as Secretary of Agr. If Obama really cares about the health of the nation, he'd set the example Pollan suggested. Dig up 5 of the 17 acres of White House lawn and grow food - real food, like Eleanor Roosevelt did in spite of the objection of the Dept. of Agr. The result - 40% of America dug up their lawns and grew there own food. Oh, and Mr. Obama, stop smoking, examples go a long way.