The enormous ecological footprint of large scale food production, particularly as a direct result of petroleum energy inputs stands out as the biggest deterrent to a sustainable food system. In order to generate the highest yields, factory farms are intrinsically dependent on oil, from the equipment required to cultivate and harvest, to the necessity for soil amendments that promote the… Read more »
I have a precarious relationship with hunger as a physiological and mental phenomenon. Because of my past experience with and ongoing feelings around hunger, I live my life in such a way to avoid encountering this sensation. Hunger creates tremendous panic in me. It’s the harbinger of certain and impending loss of safety, stability, and control. I developed anorexia in… Read more »
As a professional chef, avid world traveler, and conscious global citizen, analyzing the industrialization of food is of particular interest to me, and equal parts fascinating and disturbing. Humans’ relationship to the food they eat, for most of history, was based on what food was available in a given geographic area. That same type of relationship continued as humans became… Read more »
We live in an era dominated by the marketing of big corporations. In no industry does this have a larger effect on our bodies’ health than in the American food industry. There are many factors which contribute to public health but one of, if not the greatest factor, is the food we eat. As our food system becomes more and more… Read more »
What was my grandmother eating? This is the question posed by Michael Pollan’s book, and is a query I found myself investigating. For me, I transposed the question onto my grandfather, who grew up on a farm. This farm, on which the family subsisted throughout the Great Depression, allotted him a status as a young man that few in South… Read more »