I stopped eating red meat circa 1992 when a woman made an
impression on me with her statement that you could not be an environmentalist
and eat meat. I stopped eating all meat
circa 1995 when I started graduate school—part economic incentive, part moral
dilemma, part conservation. And then a
few years ago, I *started* eating Alaskan salmon periodically because it was
alleged to be sustainable and because it seemed like there were a few health
benefits. But, ho hum, here is Paul
Greenberg taking out one fish at a time, starting with the one I eat twice a
month or so: Salmon. Greenberg does
point out what in my heart of hearts I’ve always known: How can trucking a food across the world from
one ecosystem to another really be sustainable—and shouldn’t the fact that you
can buy a “family pack” at the Kroger for relatively little have been a red
flag? They are not priced in a way that
reflects their rarity, as Greenberg suggests.
Even though one may have perfected the perfect recipe.
I wonder as I read this if we can really expect to go back
to eating locally—we can certainly aim for prioritizing local food to minimize
our ecological footprint—but can we give up the panoply of entrees that can
adorn our dinner tables: the quinoa, the oranges & bananas, year round
strawberries & blueberries, the chocolate, THE TEA? It is difficult to see the energy costs that
go into our dinner, but our meals have connections around the world. Each and every meal, for most of us. And what does it do to the people who live in
the places where the salmon run if we stop eating salmon (or significantly cut
back if we want to be less radical in our approach)? Do they lose their livelihood and, if so, in
the long-run, how devastating, is it?
My grandparents grew their own food, largely, and though
poor, there was typically enough to eat.
In that respect, those who can collect their own food or grow it are
never completely destitute. When people
move into the cities, they can lose their jobs and then lose everything
including their ability to feed themselves—a fate they might avoid if they have
land on which to hunt or plant. In a
world of 7. 7 billion people (good heavens), can we feed ourselves
locally? Give a person a fish and they
have a meal for a day; teach a person to fish and you will empty the
oceans?
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