Soapbox rant
I watched a documentary this week about the state of our current food system. It wasn’t fun and some of the “facts” left me with a weird feeling. So I spent the next couple days running down rabbit holes on the internet to try to figure out what was really true and what was just opinion. I thought I’d just share a couple of the tidbits I picked up with you.
The math of feeding the world. There are 8 billion people in the world right now. We are expected to hit 10 billion by 2050. The problem here is that to feed the current population we are using around 46% of the earth’s habitable land for agriculture (over 50% of the land in the US). The math doesn’t work. There is a finite land mass and we have to use it to both house and feed the expanding population. And there is another confounder … we are deforesting the land for agriculture at an alarming rate. Almost 40% of the rainforests of the world have been cleared for farming, which adds to the climate change issues we are starting to see.
My takeaway from this segment is that we are going to have to start considering the environmental impact of our diet choices. There are solutions out there, but it will mean change and sacrifice … a couple things we humans are bad at.
Something pays for us to have cheap food. Industrial farming practices are used to create cheap food that is profitable to make in mass. To do that, corners are cut. Animals are crowded together so tight that they need pharmaceuticals in their feed to ward off disease. Soils are damaged as fields sprayed with herbicides and stripped bare of any “undesirable” vegetation so that one crop can flourish. Fisheries exploit our oceans to the point where the FAO has listed 90% of the sea's fish as “depleted”.
Change will eventually be forced upon us. Did you know that the US imports around 20% of its meat from other countries. We have an enormous amount of food at our fingertips right now … but we are part of this earth and at some point we too will begin to feel the impact of these practices.
Processed foods are killing us. Look, I love chips and salsa as much as anyone, but study after study shows that processed foods are part of the health problem. Here is how you can identify what is a processed food … if the ingredients aren’t something that you could have in your fridge, then put it down. Let me give you an example, those french fries you get at the drive-through have 19 ingredients. I’m betting you don’t keep a bottle of Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate in your cupboard.
So, what’s the solution? I have no idea. That is for bigger brains than I. But that doesn’t excuse me from making the best decisions that I can. With every food purchase you make you move the needle one direction or the other. Buy from a farmer who works hard to keep his soil alive, respects the animals in his care and keeps chemicals off our veggies. It matters … every single purchase matters. Read those labels. Apple sauce should have one ingredient. If you move the money towards a more sustainable and healthy direction, maybe our grandkids will have a chance.
Highlights this week
Sorry about the rant. It frustrates me because it is like watching a slow train wreck.
“Experts” are pushing complicated technical solutions, like lab grown meat. I dunno. Maybe there is a simpler solution … like just eating whole foods like we did 100 years ago.
See that picture above of the Winter Cobb Salad? That’ll do just fine for me.
Change is hard. As we consider our diet choices, we may need to open up to foods that we don’t eat on a regular basis. Like turnips. At $2.47/lb they make a pretty inexpensive meal. Add in some ground pork, garlic, ginger and you can make this recipe for Braised Turnip Rice Bowl.
Our Amish farmers brought us some organic ginger and turnips this week. Engelbert’s Farm put their ground pork on sale too.
While we all contemplate on how to save the earth … let’s not forget that the Super Bowl is coming up on February 11th.
Last year they estimate that 1.25 billion chicken wings were eaten on Super Bowl Sunday. Billion!
Good thing our Danville farmers have put some of their pasture raised wings on sale this week.
How are you going to make them? These Baked Buffalo Wings look great, but there are a lot of ways to use an air fryer too. Don’t forget to add in some veggies … we have organic purple carrots that would go great with that sauce!
Cooking with real ingredients takes time … a precious commodity in our ever busier lives.
Did you know that Delivered Fresh now has more than 20 frozen soups that only takes minutes to be ready for the table?
Take a look at Windstone Landings Turkey Minestrone soup, on sale this week. Here are the ingredients:
Windstone Landing Turkey broth, Turkey Meat, Diced Tomatoes*, Carrot*, Onion*, Celery*, Zucchini*, Chopped veggies (peas, corn, green beans)*, Penne pasta*, Garlic*, spices.
*Denotes Organic ingredient
And while we are talking about ingredients going into our bodies … let’s not forget about stuff we put on our bodies.
Maple Hollow and Bespoke Apothecary make a full line of all natural soaps, lotions and things to keep us healthy!