Not only throughout high school but especially since coming to Kalamazoo College, I've considered myself fairly environmentally conscious. Canvas grocery bags and Sigg water bottles are so trendy, after all, these days it's hard to avoid being "green." After reading the first part of Omnivore's Dilemma, however, I've realized the truth: I didn't know a damn thing about the issues that plague this country. Furthermore, even now I'm sure I don’t know the half of it.
What I wonder most, though, after having read this, is why the public isn't more aware of such issues. After all, the United States is infatuated with conspiracies: the JFK shooting, Area 51, Watergate. So how is it that government control and manipulation of food slipped past us? It's conspiracy theory gold! Even my mother, who believes that the government cuts down "Japanese beetle-infected" trees in order to more easily spy on the public via satellite, couldn't get on board the food-conspiracy bandwagon: "What do you expect us to do, Alex? Move to a farm and grow our own food? I don't know how to farm, the grocery store is where I get my food. And really, why are you wasting your money to go to a school to become an activist? Learn something relevant."
Perhaps the public isn't willing to play into a conspiracy so complicated: we can't solve the problem by wagging a finger and sending some people to jail. Releasing the government and big business's hold on food standards would require a complete overhaul and reworking of the food system, and most importantly, involve higher food prices. "That's too hard," we would whine, "I've got other problems."
However, my favorite section, that about the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (or CAFOs), made clear that many solutions aren't too far-fetched. Reducing the new acid-resistant strands of bacteria in a cow's stomach could be reduced by 80% if farmers (or really, operators) fed their cows grass just for three days before slaughter. And additionally, the problems of overproduction of corn and overabundance of unusable cow manure could be solved completely if only farmers went back to the old-fashioned system of crop and livestock on a single farm. Still, larger solutions would require immense public support. How long could it take?
That's harsh! The state of our food industry is certainly something relevant. Knowledge is the first step to figuring out how to solve this, and perhaps the reason people have not started conspiracy theories for this issue is because finding out its a conspiracy is only half the battle. We can't announce that the government is giving us unhealthy food and then have someone come fix it. We have to figure out the solution, and the solution is difficult and time consuming and probably more work than we are willing to put into it.
ReplyDeleteWhich is unfortunate because it is a problem that we are all equally connected to, because we all need to eat.