Do you remember the last time you saw or read something that turned your whole belief system upside down.
I have an absolute treat for you today, thanks to Agmates reader Dr Christine Jones
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Michael Pollan [pictured] is a journalist, author, academic who has written an 8,500 word essay ( don’t fall over) “Farmer In Chief – An open letter to the US President Elect”. Published in the New York Times 9/10/2008.
This is a brilliant work that challenges everything I’ve believed about Western Industrialized Agriculture. Take the time to read it and see how you fare. Below is a short extract from just the first page. Read the entire essay here.
Look forward to discussing the issues with you.
“But the 20th-century industrialization of agriculture has increased the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the food system by an order of magnitude; chemical fertilizers (made from natural gas), pesticides (made from petroleum), farm machinery, modern food processing and packaging and transportation have together transformed a system that in 1940 produced 2.3 calories of food energy for every calorie of fossil-fuel energy it used into one that now takes 10 calories of fossil-fuel energy to produce a single calorie of modern supermarket food.
Put another way, when we eat from the industrial-food system, we are eating oil and spewing greenhouse gases. This state of affairs appears all the more absurd when you recall that every calorie we eat is ultimately the product of photosynthesis – a process based on making food energy from sunshine. There is hope and possibility in that simple fact.
Nations that opened their markets to the global flood of cheap grain (under pressure from previous administrations as well as the World Bank and the I.M.F.) lost so many farmers that they now find their ability to feed their own populations hinges on decisions made in Washington (like your predecessor’s precipitous embrace of biofuels) and on Wall Street.
They will now rush to rebuild their own agricultural sectors and then seek to protect them by erecting trade barriers. Expect to hear the phrases “food sovereignty” and “food security” on the lips of every foreign leader you meet.
Not only the Doha round, but the whole cause of free trade in agriculture is probably dead, the casualty of a cheap food policy that a scant two years ago seemed like a boon for everyone.”
(thanks Dr Jones)
Looking forward to your thoughts.
7 Comments
Hey Steve – that’s quite some homework! All good though.
Michael Pollan was also here for the Sydney Writers’ Festival earlier this year, and was interviewed by Kerry O’Brien on the 7.30 Report (which you can watch or read here: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s2257391.htm). It was a thought provoking chat the two of them had.
I’ll read this piece with great interest.
I’m only halfway through this essay so far, but have enjoyed the other stuff Pollan has written too. If you’re interested, his book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” has him visiting 3 types of farms (agribusiness, large-scale organic, small-scale sustainable), talking to the farmers, and then trying out a bit of hunter-gatherer style eating – lots of info about the production of food and our relationship to it, and he’s pretty funny too.
This issue is just in its infancy and it looks like its going to need all the help it can get so thanks guys. ‘An inconvenient truth…the sequel’ ?
A 3 year FAO, World bank, multi-nation report called the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) said much the same thing when it was released a few months back except is was concerned with feeding the whole world sustainably.
This article turned out to be rather prophetic.
Australia refused to sign off on it. Around release of the findings there was a barrage of articles in the mainstream media on the past years food riots followed up with schmoozy reassuring press-releases on the cure-all wonders of GM…. creepy.
G’day JG & Touretro,
Sorry I just logged in and noticed that your comments were awaiting moderation. I don’t know why, perhaps Thomas will have a look at that. I think they are supposed to publish straight away – well thats how it has been up to now.
JG – so you have read “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”. Would you recommend it?
Touretro – I’m really quite excited about what Pollan has to say in the essay. We have a fabulous Pasture Fed beef industry here in Australia. Pollan actually mentions that in the 7.30 report that Thomas has linked above (thanks mate).
In fact we are very different to the US in that the majority of our beef industry is grass fatten beef.
Do you guys know how many farmers markets there are around Australia. Is there many in the cities?
Your quite right Steve, Aussie beef is second to none.
Farmers markets aren’t as prolific as they are in the US for some reason but I gather they are rapidly growing as resourceful producers are embracing mixed farming.
The demands certainly there . Perhaps theres a supply issue?
Monocultural farming is boring and rural communities could do with reasons to entice people back to the land.
Thanks again for the thread, Gents! Very informative.
Steve, yes I’ve read Omnivore’s Dilemma and would strongly recommend it to you or anyone interested in different systems of agriculture, and what we eat and why. He’s very thoughtful on the issue and looks at it in a… I dunno, a holistic way perhaps you’d call it. The big picture. And yet he always seems ready to find the humour in a situation.
Obviously it’s an American take on things, but I think it has some relevant points for Aussies too.
As for farmers markets, this site lists a bunch of them: I’m not sure how up to date it is though. There’s two that I’ve been to here in Perth city, City Farmers and Mount Claremont, both good in different ways.
G’day JG,
OK I’ll buy it on your recommendation.
Speaking of Farmers markets and your home state – you might be interested in this article just published on Agmates. It looks like you know a bit about this, like to hear your thoughts.
Cheers