Living Arts
Agricultural Landscapes
The Question of our Food Future
by Elyssa Paige
“What’s for dinner?” What was once a simple question has become a complex matter loaded with consequences. The choice of what we put at the end of our forks affects our personal health and goes beyond to have a lasting impact upon the earth.
Our agricultural landscape is changing fast. Family farms are disappearing. They are being replaced by corporate mega-farms that are heavily dependent upon fossil fuels in the interest of maximizing profits. But those profits come at a cost.
Ten calories of fossil fuels are burned to produce just one calorie of food energy, according to a research study conducted by David Pimentel of Cornell University. That number rises to 35 calories of fossil fuels to make one calorie of beef and 68 calories of fossil fuels to make one calorie of pork.
Even if we narrow the scope to a plant-based diet, we find that fossil fuels are not only used for transportation, but also for food packaging, processing, and such commercial farming techniques as the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
It’s not a pretty picture. This heavy reliance on fossil fuels contributes to global warming and unnatural agricultural practices cause soil erosion, water pollution and human health risks.
Now imagine local organic fruits and vegetables that are grown right in your home community. Envision farmers working with the earth, rather than against it, in sustaining ourselves and future generations. Picture thriving local economies and fresher, better tasting food.
With urban development quickly taking over what is left of our agricultural land, we are entering a critical time in which we must consider the direction of our food future.
On July 8, 2008, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) held a listening session in San Diego in which the public was asked to comment on a vision for California agriculture by the year 2030. The San Diego County Farm Bureau hosted the session at its office, which was ironically located in a strip mall in Escondido, California. This urban retail location is symbolic of how agriculture is becoming just another form of business.
Doug Zilm, President of the Board of Directors of San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening the local food movement in San Diego, attended the listening session to express his support of a local, sustainable, and organic system of agriculture.
“My vision for California is to see an end to the current corporate agribusiness model and a return to the roots of true agriculture,” says Zilm. “Agriculture is the idea that food production is a community effort that allows farms to sell locally and directly. It involves neighbors, schools, churches, local businesses, and community members—whether in direct sales, partnerships, education, or labor.”
This is a real shift in the way we look at farming—from big business to community activity. Such a concept of agriculture is really about active participation in realizing our connection to food, the earth, and each other. It’s about knowing where our meals come from and even getting our own hands in the dirt, whether in a backyard or a community garden.
Nancy Casady, General Manager of Ocean Beach People’s Organic Foods Market, a member-owned vegetarian consumer cooperative, voiced her opinion at the CDFA listening session, stating, “[there] must be a sustainable organic system in which every urban community is surrounded by a farm belt; and rigorous water conservation is in effect with food production use, second only to safe, adequate drinking water for everyone.”
Water was a big topic at the CDFA listening session because a recent court decision ordered a 30 percent reduction in agricultural water use in order to protect the delta smelt, an endangered fish affected by water exports from Northern to Southern California. This ruling was also largely due to a statewide drought and the obvious need to conserve water.
Perhaps we should widen our view of the water issue and address how much of our water ends up on lawns. The San Diego County Water Authority estimates that about 50 percent of San Diego County’s residential water is used for landscaping, a reality which, when held next to a court ruled reduction of agricultural water use, speaks volumes about our priorities.
Those priorities are fortunately shifting as people gain awareness of our interconnectedness through our food system. So how can we move towards agriculture that is local and sustainable?
Purchasing local food directly from farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) groups are surely steps in the right direction. Growing your own food if you’ve got the space is even better.
But action is needed on a grand scale. Our government currently rewards industrialized agriculture by subsidizing farms which are dependent on the use of toxic chemicals. We must push our legislators to support local organic farms and give them a fair shot in our “free” market. Woodbury County, Iowa sets a great example by instituting policies which promote purchasing locally produced products and by giving property tax rebates to farmers who are transitioning to organic agricultural practices.
Nancy Owens Renner, Exhibit Developer at The San Diego Natural History Museum, also attended the CDFA listening session and emphasized that “we need to craft public policy that promotes health, and not just profits. The government can play an important role in creating a system of ecological wisdom and social justice.”
We must begin thinking in terms of the good of the whole. As Nancy Casady puts it, “only an evolution of consciousness manifested in courageous leadership and grounded in care for the earth and each other will get us there.”
So get involved in your local food community. One place to start is by attending the Food for Thought Film Series, a fun and free event presented by San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project and Slow Foods San Diego and sponsored by Ocean Beach People’s Organic Foods Market. The film series launches August 16 at 6pm at the Joyce Beers Community Center in San Diego with The Real Dirt on Farmer John, a film that reveals what it truly means to be an American farmer. Learn about San Diego Roots’ project to create Willow Glen Farm, an organic farm and education center to be located just outside the city’s sprawl. Enjoy light local snacks and the chance to connect with people who are passionate about playing a positive role in our food system.
If you live outside of San Diego, get together with people in your community and share ideas. Rather than waiting for others to lead us, we must unite and become the leaders; it’s the only way to create change.
Read more about CDFA’s listening sessions at www.cdfa.ca.gov/agvision. Learn more about the local food movement and the Food for Thought Film Series at www.sandiegoroots.org. Contact Elyssa Paige at elyssa@visionmagazine.com