Humans are enticed with the materiality of taste. Food has evolved in our globalized society into much more than just energy. In fact, foods very essence of being energy is often overlooked. Today we look to food for pleasure at large.
The luxuries of this modern World allow us to buy our cheese from France, our meats from South America, our Water from Fiji, our fruits and vegetables worldwide. This luxury pronounces a major conflict in our battle to combat global warming. With every import, tens of thousands of gallons of fuel are burnt into our atmosphere, millions per day.
With the ever-growing industries of Monoculture, seed patents (agribusiness), and Meat + Dairy production; deforestation has become a norm, and our planets biodiversity is shrinking rapidly.
Monocultured crops and patented seeds (which prohibit farmers from using native seeds to grow certain crops, instead forcing them to use seeds provided by global corporations) deplete land of their rich nutrients and minerals, making the land eventually redundant. Less land, less food supply, the global price of food goes up – this is the dark side of the agribusiness. The misuse of pesticides and other chemicals used to produce mass vegetation run into local water sources, polluting rivers for generations to come. Deforestation murders wildlife, natural habitats, and our ecosystem. It is arguably the main protagonist in global warming, as the less trees we have, the less Carbon Dioxide and other gasses get stored, the more hazardous smoke gets released into the atmosphere; ultimately heating our planet in an unnatural way almost irreversibly.
Buying Local therefore possesses so much power. You know where you get your product from. You know what it took to make the product, or it will be very easy to find out. You contribute less to global warming, you support your local producers, and you take a step towards healing our planet. Small changes within ourselves lead to a greater change in our world.
What can we do?
- Buy Local and eat more Local fruits and vegetation.
- Grow/ Hunt more of your own food if possible.
- Support Farmers using native seeds.
- Call on your local Governments to ban Seed Patents.
- Support Producers using minimal pesticides/agrochemicals.
- Protect our Forests and Jungles, plant and protect trees.
- Support those you see making positive changes in their lifestyles.