Spot-On:
Sustainability Redefined
The definition above isn't wrong, but, it seems to me, it is incomplete, at least when it comes to food (and probably everything else) since it's too focused on micro-effects as opposed to macro-effects.
Read the complete article at Spot-On.
Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | spot-on | sustainability
Labels: food commentary, spot-on
4 Comments:
I heard the "Science Friday" interview referred to in your article, and thought at the time the researchers must have left out some really important factors in their calculations. There is no way that our pasture-fed animals are doing the kind of damage to the environment that factory-farmed animals are - to say nothing of the living conditions of the animals and the workers. As pointed out in The Omnivore's Dilemma, really environmentally sensitive farming improves the land.
Anon,
Yes, and as Pollan points out in other writings, the efforts of scientists to eliminate variables -- however necessary that is to accomplish valid research -- also tends to produce simplistic results.
Thanks, Kevin, for your thoughtful article. I, too, heard the Science Friday piece, and thought that the study said something, but not everything. And perhaps it did truthfully say that someone who buys less meat that is unsustainably produced will reduce greenhouse gases, reducing greenhouse gas production isn't the only goal. Buying locally and sustainably grown food does more than just reduce transport costs, greenhouse gas production, etc. - It also supports the local community, and makes other local ventures more viable.
Jennifer,
Thanks. As I indicated in the article, one of the problems with such examinations is the difficulty (perhaps, impossibility) of designing a genuinely thorough study. There are simply too many factors involved. The other is the inclination of main media to simplify. Hell, I simplify! But i this column I choose to simplify the facts (and provide references) while focusing on the questions.
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