Dan Barber: How I Fell in Love with a Fish

MonthWithoutMonsanto.com

….”The Beatles did not invent teenagers. They merely decided to lead them. That most movements, most leadership that we’re doing is about finding a group that’s disconnected but already has a yearning. Not persuading people to want something they don’t have yet.

When Diane Hatz worked on The Meatrix, her video that spread all across the internet about the way farm animals are treated, she didn’t invent the idea of being a vegan. She didn’t invent the idea of caring about this issue. But she helped organize people, and helped turn it into a movement.

Hugo Chavez did not invent the disaffected middle and lower class of Venezuela. He merely led them.

Bob Marley did not invent Rastafarians. He just stepped up and said, “Follow me.”….”

You can watch the full talk on the TED website.

Diane Hatz

Originally uploaded by PURWaterFiltration

I got back from the TED Palm Springs conference last week.  (I know, I really should blog about it but it was sooo consuming…). We were given Sigg bottles in our gift bag and were told Pur would donate water to people in need if we put a message on the bottle and got our photo taken. This is where this photo came from.

A comment on Sigg – I threw mine out several months ago when I found out that up until the past year or so, Sigg was coating the inside of their water bottles with a coating that contained BPA (a neurotoxin). I was assured these were BPA-free, but I’m so not promoting Sigg anymore. Mason jars are a great way to go.

I’ll try to post something about what happened at TED over the weekend.

The Bible says, “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.” Sustainable food expert Diane Hatz takes that dictum to heart in her prescription for food security for Haiti after the earthquake.

Rebuilding Haiti’s Food System
by Diane Hatz

The earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12th shocked the world. Immediate relief efforts must continue for as long as necessary and need to focus on providing food, shelter and medical care for the millions of Haitians affected. But, at the same time, experts must start looking at ways to rebuild the country, and a strong focus needs to be put on agriculture and the country’s food system.

The United Nation’s Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called for $23 million for agriculture to support farms, backyard gardens, urban agriculture and rural development. And to be most effective, a sustainable system of agriculture needs to be introduced, where many farmers work small plots of land to yield many types of crops, and minimal to no pesticides or fertilizers are used.

In addition, the government needs to rebuild infrastructure such as roads and canals, provide subsidies for Haitian farmers, reforest destroyed land and increase tariffs on imported foods. Efforts must be made to help Haitians become self-sufficient so food riots like in April 2008 do not happen again.

This is vital to the rebuilding of Haiti. According to the United Nation’s World Food Programme, 76% of Haitians live on less than $2 day and 56% on less than $1 a day. The FAO reports that around 80% of Haitians are involved with agriculture, but they do not have the necessary expertise or equipment. Haitians need to be given the tools – training, seeds, hand tools, livestock such as pigs and chickens – in order to rebuild their food system.

In a developing country such as Haiti, expensive inputs such as chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides need to be replaced with natural ways to grow food – compost, beneficial insects, crop rotation, diversified crops. These types of inputs are low to no cost and are more practical for the type of farming that needs to be done in the country. Because of the rugged mountainsides, large machinery is not feasible which saves on costs for parts and oil.

Haiti should look to its neighbor Cuba for inspiration. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba imported over 50% of its food and had an industrial-based agriculture system. After the Soviet Union disbanded in 1991, Cuba had nowhere to export and nowhere to get their pesticides, chemicals and industrial inputs from, so they were forced to create a sustainable food system.

Large farms were broken up into smaller plots and urban agriculture was introduced on a large scale. According to Food First, by 1999 sustainable urban agriculture produced 65% of Cuba’s rice, 46% of fresh vegetables, 38% of non-citrus fruits, 13% of roots, tubers and plantains, and 6% of eggs. Farmers and researchers from around the world now visit Cuba to learn more about their sustainable food system.

The planting season in Haiti is March, and the hurricane season begins in June. With so much effort now needed to provide emergency food relief and secure shelter for the upcoming storm season, there isn’t much focus on providing Haitians ways to produce their own food in the long term. But it is necessary. They need to plant as many crops as possible come March and also to look at how they can become a food secure country.

Diane Hatz is the Co-Founder & Director of The Glynwood Institute for Food and Farming, which focuses on solving critical problems with food and agriculture and will launch April 2010.

I’m also in the process of founding another program – it’s too soon to talk about it yet, but I can say that I’m no longer doing day-to-day Sustainable Table work, I’m working on a couple books, and I’m starting up a program that has the potential to be big big big…..

More soon!

If you want to keep up with the series, check it out there. The thought right now is to eventually turn it into a book. I’m working on one about The Meatrix right now, so we’ll see how long they both take….

Click below to see Godin’s talk…..

Seth Godin on Tribes

In last week’s post, Sustainable vs. Industrial, we compared sustainable farming with industrial agriculture. This week, we have eight reasons why you should buy sustainable.

1. Tastes better. This is what convinced me to eat local sustainable and/or organic food. Many people believe that sustainable food simply tastes better – but you won’t know until you try it yourself, so might want to do your own taste test. Buy an organic or local sustainable apple and one of those large, waxed perfect-looking apples in the grocery store that come from a large industrial farm. Compare and let us know what you think!

2. Healthier. More and more health benefits are being found with sustainable food. Pasture-raised beef, for example, has two to six times more of the Omega-3 fatty acids needed for heart health and optimal brain function than grain-fed industrial meat. Eggs from pasture-raised chickens are not only higher in Omega-3 fatty acids, they’re also lower in cholesterol and calories. Organic fruits, vegetables and grains contain higher levels of nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants, including vitamin C, iron, magnesium and phosphorus.

3. Environment is protected. On a sustainable farm, animals graze on pasture and their manure fertilizes the fields. These sustainable farms only take from the land what they can put back, so the land and the environment are preserved for future generations. They do not pollute the surrounding soil, air and water with manure, chemical pollution or runoff.

4. Animals are treated better. Sustainably-raised animals are treated humanely and are able to carry out their natural behaviors. They are not prone to stress, sickness and disease like those raised on factory farms. Farms raising animals sustainably do not overuse antibiotics and so do not contribute to the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in humans.

5. Workers are treated better. Workers on sustainable farms are treated with respect and paid a fair wage.

6. Rural communities thrive. Sustainable farms add to the local community. Buying food from a local sustainable farm puts money back into that community because the farmer lives and shops there.

7. Less fossil fuel and energy use. Sustainable farms use more man-power, whereas factory farms use more machinery and mechanization, which uses up more fossil fuels. In addition, the long distance transport, and associated processing and packaging, related to industrial operations takes more energy.

8. Saves family farms. Buying food from your local sustainable farmer keeps the farmer in business, keeps the land s/he grows on protected, stops urban sprawl, and is better for the community at large.

As you were reading this, you were probably thinking, “Of course buying sustainable food is better, but….” And that “but” is probably well founded. What if you don’t have access to local food? What if you’re on a strict budget and can only afford to spend a certain amount of money on food? What should you do?

There are legitimate reasons why you might not be able to eat local, sustainable food, and we’ll try to address these issues in future posts. There may not be answers yet to every question, but raising any issue is the first step toward solving it.

We think that everyone can take steps toward eating healthier, and we’ll work with you so you can find a way to incorporate the freshest, most wholesome, healthiest food into your diet. And we’ll try even harder to make sure it’s local and sustainable!

So, next week, let’s jump into shopping for sustainable food. Seeing as the growing season will soon be upon us, let’s start talking about how to find the best food for you and your family.

(Diane Hatz is the Founder of Sustainable Table, Executive Producer of The Meatrix movies and co-Founder of the Eat Well Guide.)

In the past two weeks, we’ve talked about sustainable and organic food, as well as industrial agriculture and factory farming in our Guide to Good Food. This week, we’re going to compare sustainable with industrial so you can see a side-by-side difference.

In general, the biggest differences between sustainable and industrial farms are the size of the operation (industrial farms are much bigger), the amount of pollution/effect on the environment (sustainable farms do not pollute the environment and they replace the resources they take), and the quality of food you get (small local sustainable farms provide fresher foods that not only taste better, they’re better for you).

To break it down and give you more specifics, I’ve done a comparison of the two types of farming so you can see how different these practices can be.

Health
Industrial farming: Industrial crops contain more nitrates and are often heavily sprayed with pesticides. Unsanitary conditions on factory farms and in industrial slaughterhouses cause high levels of meat contamination, which can cause food poisoning. In the U.S., food borne illness sickens 76 million people, causes 325,000 hospitalizations and kills approximately 5,000 people a year.

Sustainable farming: Food is grown with minimal or no use of pesticides or other dangerous chemicals. It can be healthier and more nutritious than industrially-raised food. Organic foods have been found to contain higher levels of antioxidants, which help fight certain types of cancer. Some types of organic crops contain more vitamin C, iron, magnesium and phosphorous.

Antibiotics and Hormones
Industrial farming: Low doses of antibiotics are given daily to animals to ward off illness and disease that can develop from unsanitary and overcrowded conditions. This contributes to problems with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in humans. Both antibiotics and hormones are used to make animals grow faster.

Sustainable farming: Antibiotics are only given if the animal is sick, and hormones are never given to the animals.

Environment
Industrial farming: Responsible for massive topsoil erosion, depletion and pollution of underground water supplies, and the reduction of genetic diversity. Industrial farms also pollute our air, surface water and soil with animal waste, hazardous gases, toxic chemicals and harmful pathogens.

Sustainable farming: Protects the natural environment, with farms managed in a responsible way, maintaining the fertility of the land and preserving resources for future generations. Sustainable farms use waste as fertilizer and don’t raise more animals than their land can handle.

Water
Industrial farming: Pollutes groundwater (e.g., aquifers, underground springs) and surface water (e.g., streams, lakes, oceans) from the over-application of fertilizers and pesticides, as well as the massive amount of waste generated by animals and concentrated in a small area. Factory farms also use enormous amounts of water to clean out the confined areas animals are raised in.

Sustainable farming: Conserves scarce water resources and protects local water systems. Animals are raised on pasture and provided hay floor covering if indoors in a barn, so massive amounts of water are not necessary for cleaning.

Pesticides and fertilizers
Industrial farming: Huge amounts of chemical pesticides are used to eliminate bugs and insects. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, one billion tons of pesticides are used in the United States every year. Chemical fertilizers are used in an attempt to nourish the soil because growing one crop in the same place destroys soil fertility.

Sustainable farming: Few or no pesticides are used, and only when absolutely necessary. Sustainable farmers will plant different crops together to discourage destructive insects and plant flowers and other plants that attract beneficial insects. Diverse plantings also help maintain excellent soil health so that chemical fertilizers are not needed.

Animal Welfare
Industrial farming: Animals are packed tightly together and are not permitted to carry out their natural behaviors. They suffer needlessly from illness, deformities and stress.

Sustainable farming: Animals have room to move and carry out their natural behaviors. They are not confined (though they could be raised indoors in bad weather). Truly sustainable farms allow animals outside, on pasture, when possible.

Climate Change and Fossil Fuel
Industrial farming: Industrial and factory farms use massive amounts of fossil fuels to process, package and transport food, as well as for machinery and as ingredients in fertilizers. This contributes to problems with climate change.

Sustainable farming: Food is sold as locally as possible, cutting down on long-distance travel and needless processing and packaging. Chemical fertilizers are seldom, if ever, used, and because farms tend to grow diverse types of crops closely together, often harvesting is done by hand. The responsible manner in which the land is treated keeps carbon in the soil, thus not contributing to (and possibly helping slow down!) climate change.

Communities and Workers
Industrial farming: Communities and families can be torn apart by industrial operations because these facilities are very controversial, with some residents wanting them and others not. Owners typically do not live on the farm and are not part of the community. Workers are low-paid and often work in unsafe conditions.

Sustainable farming: Sustainable farms support and enhance rural communities, where farmers live on the property and are often active members in local society. Workers are valued and treated with respect.

When you see a side-by-side comparison, it becomes obvious that sustainable food production is simply a better choice. The point of this series, though, is to help you make the best decision for you and your family – and there are many factors to take into account, like price, taste, quality, access, and so forth. I will raise these issues over the course of the series, and even if they can’t be answered, we can at least look at them.

Next week we’ll answer the question – Why buy sustainable? Until then, start looking for greens at your farmers market – they’re coming soon!

(Diane Hatz is the Founder of Sustainable Table, Executive Producer of The Meatrix movies and co-Founder of the Eat Well Guide.)

Last week we talked about sustainable and organic, and the difference between the two. This week, we’re going to delve into the real issue – factory farming and industrial agriculture. The differences between sustainable and organic aren’t as big when you compare them to industrial food production.

Factory farming and industrial agriculture are unsustainable systems that produce large volumes of food but have little to no regard for the environment, animal welfare, soil and water quality, food safety, worker rights, farmers or local communities. The focus is on maximizing profit and efficiency – but at great cost.

The terms factory farming and industrial agriculture are used interchangeably, though factory farming is generally used to explain industrial animal production and industrial agriculture tends to describe or include intensive crop production.

What is a factory farm?

A factory farm is a large industrial operation that raises many animals (usually cows, pigs, chickens or turkeys) in overcrowded, confined conditions. Some animals are raised indoors in metal sheds, where they never see sunlight and often live on concrete slats, their feet never touching the earth. Other animals (cows mainly) are raised outdoors on large feedlots, huge tracts of barren land, where they stand in mud and their own feces, with no grass or trees nearby. These animals are not permitted to carry out their natural behaviors, like rooting, pecking and grazing.

Because of the unsanitary, overcrowded conditions, animals often become sick. To combat this, the animals are given low daily doses of antibiotics, contributing to the growing danger of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Both antibiotics and hormones are given to help the animals grow faster and bigger.

These facilities are so unlike farms that the government defines them as animal feeding operations or concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The difference between the two types is the number of animals raised.

What is industrial agriculture?

Industrial agriculture can include animal production but is also used to refer to a system of growing crops where one crop or monoculture (corn, soy and wheat, for example) is grown on hundreds or even thousands of acres of land. Heavy doses of chemical fertilizers are used to make up for the nutrient loss that comes from growing only one type of crop on the same soil season after season, and large amounts of pesticides are sprayed because growing one type of crop over such vast tracts of land leads to insect problems.

This type of food production relies on heavy machinery, and thus fossil fuels, and also minimizes the use of human labor.

Characteristics

Factory farming and industrial agriculture share several characteristics that define them as more like industrial facilities than farms, including:

Excessive size: Unnaturally large numbers of animals are raised in one spot, so that the land cannot properly handle the waste the animals generate. One crop can be raised on miles of land.

Environmental impact: Large amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are applied to crops (both for animal feed and human consumption). These chemicals can not only get into the food, they often leach into the surrounding soil and can pollute rivers, streams and groundwater. On factory farms, open air pits – or lagoons – of manure hold millions of gallons of animal waste, which is often applied to or leaks onto the surrounding land, polluting groundwater and streams. Factory farms also cause air pollution, emitting foul odors, dust, small airborne particulates and numerous toxic chemicals.

Public health problems: The spread of food borne illness that can be transferred to humans is increased by factory farms’ overcrowded, confined, filthy conditions.

Disregard for animal welfare: Animals are confined in unsanitary, overcrowded conditions and cannot carry out their natural behaviors.

Corporate ownership: The owner of the facility does not live on the property and is often a company, not a person. These corporations often own not only the factory farm but also other aspects of the food production system, including the feed company, slaughterhouse and final stages of production.

Common names for industrial food production and operations include:

Factory farm or farming
Animal feeding operation
Confined animal feeding operation (CAFO)
Industrial animal production
Industrial agriculture
Conventional farming or agriculture

This is just a general overview of what a factory farm is – you can read more on Sustainable Table’s Factory Farming Issues page. Also, Participant Media (An Inconvenient Truth, Fast Food Nation, The Soloist) will be releasing Food, Inc. on June 12th – the movie is an expose on factory farms and the factory farm system. We’ll make sure to pass along movie updates as we get them.

Next week we’ll do a comparison of sustainable agriculture and factory farming so you can easily see the differences between the two types of farming.

(Diane Hatz is the Founder of Sustainable Table, Executive Producer of The Meatrix movies and co-Founder of the Eat Well Guide. This is the third installment in her blog series Sustainable Table’s Guide to Good Food.)

Over 8,000 hogs are confined in the nine metal barns in the foreground. To the left is a shallow pit where manure sits before being sprayed on fields. A 20 million gallon manure lagoon (not pictured) holds the enormous amount of waste generated daily.

(This is the second installment of Diane Hatz’s series – Sustainable Table’s Guide to Good Food.)

Exactly what are sustainable farming and/or sustainable food, and what is organic agriculture?  Those are questions I hear quite often.  A general concept of organic has been seeping into the mainstream, but many people are still confused by both terms.  And to make it even more confusing, organic can be sustainable and sustainable can be organic, but they don’t have to be.  What?

To start with, sustainable farming is more of a concept or a philosophy than a literal definition.  With sustainable farming, food is raised that’s healthy for consumers, does not harm the environment, is humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage to the farmer, and supports and enhances rural communities.  At Sustainable Table, we also believe that sustainable food should be grown as close to home as possible.

Yes, that is a bit of a mouthful – a shorter answer would be to say that sustainable farming provides food that’s healthy for consumers, farmers, the environment, animals, and local communities.

The challenge with sustainable is that there isn’t a government approved label or certification system, so you need to educate yourself and ask questions before you buy.  Also, there is no standard for what’s healthy for consumers or humane for workers.  There is no chart saying when the environment begins to be harmed, and so on.  That means that each of us has to learn as much as we can about the issues and decide what we think is best.  We’re not here to tell you what to do – we’re here to give you information, encouragement and perhaps advice; but it’s up to you to decide what you think is best for yourself.

Since 2002, organic food has been regulated by the government.  The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines organic agriculture as “an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity.  It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony.”

Another mouthful.  To put it more simply, with organic farming
•    most synthetic (and petroleum derived) pesticides and fertilizers are prohibited;
•    all antibiotics, genetic engineering, irradiation and sewage sludge are prohibited;
•    all organically produced animals must have access to outdoors and be fed organic feed; and
•    all processed products labeled organic must have 95% organic ingredients.

They look rather similar, don’t they?  But there are differences….  Let’s do a comparison.

Certification. Organic farms must be independently certified every year and approved by the USDA.  Sustainable farms are not certified.

Animal Welfare. Though most organic farmers raise their animals in a sustainable manner, the organic standards only require “access” to outdoors.  This means that an organic farmer could have an open door leading to a cement patio and not actually let their animals out on pasture.  In a sustainable system, animals are allowed to carry out their natural behaviors and are given ample room to move around naturally.  So even with organic food, it helps to know your farmer and to ask questions about how the food was raised or produced.

Antibiotics.  Organic farmers cannot use any antibiotics on their animals.  Sustainable farmers can choose not to use antibiotics at all, or they can use them if the animal gets sick.

Artificial hormones.  Neither organic nor sustainable farmers can give artificial or added hormones to their animals.

Corporate involvement.  Organic food can be raised by large companies, whereas sustainable food is raised by small family farmers.

Farm size.  With organic agriculture, the farm can be any size.  Sustainable farmers plant crops in relatively small, mixed plots.

Food miles.  Organic food can travel thousands of miles before reaching your dinner plate.  Sustainable food is grown as close to home as possible.

An important point to remember is that many organic farmers are also sustainable.  In the past several years, as organic has become more popular, large industrial farms have started raising organic food, which is not sustainable.

How do you know if something is organic or sustainable?

That’s a good question.  Consumers must educate themselves if they want to eat the best food possible.  We do research when we shop for cars and computers, so shouldn’t we also do some research when buying our food?

In a supermarket or health food store, you will find the USDA certified organic label on packaged organic food.  In addition, most produce will also be labeled organic.  At a farmers’ market, organic farmers will have a sign saying they’re organic, which you can generally trust because most, if not all, farmers markets will research and approve farmers before letting them sell at the market.  If you’re wondering if the organic food you want to buy is sustainable or not, ask your store manager if the food was raised locally on a small family farm.  You can also look at any labels on the food to see where it came from.

Sustainable is another issue.  Because it’s more of a philosophy, we might have slightly different definitions of sustainable.  And this is why learning about our food is so important.  We’ll go through some of the major issues in future posts, but for now, know that you need to learn where your food came from in order to know what’s best for you.  Were pesticides used? (You might be surprised to learn that some sustainable farmers use zero pesticides, whereas organic farmers are permitted to use a certain class of pesticides.)  What kind of fertilizer was applied?  What were animals fed?  How were they raised?  We’ll give you tips on the right questions to ask in a few weeks.  For now, just know that you do need to commit a little time to learning about the difference between sustainable and organic, as well as what industrial agriculture is.

How should I start?

There are different ways to start on the road to eating sustainably, but, for me, it was easiest to start with organic food.  I didn’t understand local, sustainable, industrial organic or any of the other terms you’ll quickly become familiar with, so to start, just looking for an organic label was easiest for me.  I knew that if it was labeled, I was getting a certain type of food (that we explained above).  I also shopped at a large supermarket then, and there was no such thing as local or sustainable in the store, but I could find some organic items.  So organic was easiest to begin with.

I quickly realized that organic can get very expensive, and not having that kind of budget, I knew I had to figure something else out.  So as I started incorporating some organic food into my diet, I also found a couple of farmers’ markets (not realizing that by doing this I was shopping locally and eating seasonally).  At the same time, I also started researching sustainable food and started asking questions.  That gave me enough knowledge so that I was able to decide whether I wanted sustainable, organic or sustainable organic.  (Industrial food is not an option for me when I’m shopping in a grocery store.)

Don’t worry about having all this figured out yet.  If you’re looking for somewhere to start and are unsure, try to incorporate one or two organic items into your food purchases.  Don’t worry about trying to change everything overnight – one or two items are a great start.  And if you’re wondering what you should shift to organic, remember, it really is up to you; but if you have no idea, I would suggest milk or dairy products.

We have a lot of information to cover over the course of this series, so, for now, I hope you have some understanding of what sustainable and organic food is.  Next week, I’ll explain what industrial agriculture or factory farming is.  And please let me know if you have any questions.

Here’s to healthy eating!

(Diane Hatz is the Founder of Sustainable Table, Executive Producer of The Meatrix movies and co-Founder of the Eat Well Guide.)