Ever heard of global impact eating? No? That may be because I've just coined the term.
When you sit down to a meal - or run out the door with a pop-tart, as the case may be - what goes through your mind? Do you know what you're eating? Do you know how it got to your plate? Do you understand how and where it was grown, who planted and picked it, and what conditions they worked in? Do you know how your food was processed, what additives got mixed in, or what parts of the plant were taken out and dumped? Do you know how many miles your food traveled from seed to store shelf or who actually got the money when you bought it? How many hands and lives did your food touch on the way to your mouth?
"Global impact eating," as I see it, is concerned with all these questions as a way to explore that last one: how does the way we eat affect the world we live in and the people that inhabit it? Eating may seem simple, but the effects of our food choices shape our world. By what we choose to consume, we can choose to pollute our planet, degrade our soil, deepen social inequality, perpetuate world hunger, increase our health care bills, or build communities, reconnect to the earth, revitalize our health, and better understand ourselves and our environment. Eating is serious business; it's high time we recognize its impact.
Want to change the world? Well, so do I. So I'm looking first at the end of my fork.
Now, I don't want to give the impression that I know everything about the impacts of our food choices. That's the point of this blog. I'm a college student who knows a little and cares a lot, and I'm trying to inform myself so I can bring my choices in line with the world I want to create. I hope this blog can be a resource for others who care about the global impact of their choices. I'll be learning about and reporting on things like the growing food movements (sustainable agriculture, local food, food justice, fair trade, etc) and global food issues like hunger and food security/access and how our choices affect them. I'll review great books, documentaries, articles and resources about food impact. I'll share tips, tricks, and tasty recipes for how to improve the impact of your choices in fun ways. And I'll share all this information with a very personal twist. After all, I'm not writing a textbook here. This is my story of how I am learning to eat.
I'm excited for the adventure, and I want you to share the journey with me! If you're interested in what I write, please respond! I want this blog to be a home for great discussion. Nothing makes me happier than sharing ideas with other people who care so that we can all learn together. Even if you disagree completely, I want to hear your opinion! And I am always looking to reach and learn from people who care, so spread the word! :)
How many hands and lives did your food touch on the way to your mouth? =) nice. I read "How many hands have touched your food"... you really hope they followed sanitary standards, even if you don't care about their well-being.
ReplyDelete*knows a little and cares a lot* seems to be a pandemic around university campuses...
Anyway, enough with the commentary: What have you found to be the best resources for finding out what's on the end of your fork? I mean, there are general heuristics (local > imported, meat is a calamity, 'organic' may or may not be better than the average stuff you find) but as far as walking into a store and saying "This brand of cornflakes is made by child labor, but this brand was made from free-range corn..." where does one start?
To be honest, my buying choices (which translate into the majority of my eating choices - I rarely eat out) are based on lowest price point and greatest nutritional value, not always in the same order.
I think it would be interesting to sit down with my weekly shopping receipt and figure out just where my staples are coming from, and then perhaps how much more it would cost to be more "globally conscientious"