Food is important to everyone. People need food in order to grow, reproduce and survive. Over the human course of history, food has evolved from just a fundamental need to a cornerstone of religion and culture. For example, bread is now more than a complex carbohydrate. To a Roman Catholic, the bread in the ceremony of Eucharist literally has the presence of Jesus in it. Food has become revered! I heard a comment in class 2 weeks ago that made think differently about how cultures view nature and environmental issues: “maybe people respect the environment more based off of how involved they are with the food process.”
CUESA estimates that the average American meal travels 1,500 miles from farm to the plate. This distance that food travels to get to the plate has greatly increased from when the United States was first colonized in the 17th century. Crops were grown right outside of colonies like Jamestown and Plymouth. Residents of such small cities also likely had something to do with the food process as such small towns split up creating the space to farm, planting the seeds, tending the field and preparing the food. Residents were able to appreciate by clear example that nature provides food. I do not think that the increased distance that food has to travel and the decreased interest in environmental issues are just correlated. The increasing distance that food travels is a cause for the decreased interest in environmental issue.
Environmental issues register differently in different cultures because every culture has a different level of respect for nature. People used to worship nature just because it made crops grow. Because people revered food and where it came from ,the environment, people care about its well-being and respected it more. Today, fruits and vegetables are grown in laboratories and then flown across the globe. Frozen foods can be prepared in a overseas factory and then shipped around the world to be heated up in any home with a microwave. Food is no longer synonymous with a farm, but massive factories and shipping trucks. The loss of the direct presence of nature on the food process has led people to forget the importance of a sound ecosystem for food production. People are bombarded by comments that the environment is struggling and soon will not be able to provide for us, but they are not able to comprehend this because nature’s ability to provide has been hijacked. People are now able to buy Avocados in a non growing season because of genetic modification and large green houses. Society now believes it can make food on its own. The saddest thing is that the process that is hailed as the new way of making food (meat packing factories, trans-Pacific carrier ships, etc) is a major culprit of destroying the world’s environment. The ability to see that Nature is human’s provider is crucial for respecting natures, and this respect is crucial for caring about environmental issues.
Sources:
http://www.cuesa.org/learn/how-far-does-your-food-travel-get-your-plate
