apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Thank you for posting this. It's good to be reminded because, although we try to be conscientious, I have a lot of questions about what's best to do.

We belong to a CSA, which is organic and is working toward using only fertilizer from their own herds for crops.

We have a garden and we use local fertilizer for it.

In the winter, I shop at a small local green grocer, both to support a local business and because he tries to stock as much local produce as possible.

We eat less meat than we used to and we buy local, grass-fed meat, eggs, and poultry. Don't know about the poultry feed, though, it could be terrible. We try to buy local dairy products, but they are difficult to find - apart from milk.

We love cheese but local cheeses are hard to find and there's no local Parmesan. So we limit the amount of cheese we buy, but we do buy mostly imported cheese.

We buy sustainable fish, tilapia and Pacific fish. However, we live on the East coast so we could have locally caught fresh fish. I don't know whether it's better to buy local fish or Pacific fish that has been flown/refrigerated to the East Coast. Plus, there are issues of health, lead etc. Two or three times a week, when we eat fish, I worry about what's the right thing to do.

We drink wine from all over the world. We eat bananas, mangoes, papaya and oranges from far away. Right now I am living on strawberries, from Florida and California.

And then there's coffee. We buy Fair Trade coffee, of course, but it's not exactly local.

We also look for local wild foods - we have a secret cranberry bog we pick from - and there are some wild nut trees and an apple and pear tree growing on waste land that I've picked from to make preserves.

Mostly I feel I'm struggling in the dark, which is why I appreciate posts like this.

thanks for the post (and for the link to mark bittman's TED talk, i hadn't seen that yet).

i feel like i've done a lot in terms of my own personal choices - i shared a grass-fed/finished beef CSA with friends this past year, shop at the farmer's market weekly for produce, support a local market that is mostly conscientious in its offerings. i've recently started to eat more whole grains and vegetables and less meat generally.

but when it comes to raising consciousness in others, i feel like i'm either preaching to the choir, or talking to a brick wall. i've started to use facebook to promote articles and ideas, and i'm hopeful that i can reach people that way, but i still wish i could do more.

in that interview linked to earlier this week, michael pollan said "People have strong, quasi-religious views. Secularizing the issue is challenging." this summed up how i feel very well - it's really difficult to change people's minds about food - it has to come from their own curiosity and learning. but i'm inspired by the simple message that both michael pollan and mark bittman are promoting, which is just to eat less beef/meat. i don't think everyone needs to eat exactly the same way i do, but if everyone would just change one thing in their diet like that, it could make such a huge difference.

This post seems disingenuous after the Week of Beef. Yes, eating local, grass-fed beef helps some, but I didn't really see that emphasis in entry after entry about beef on this blog.

Eating seasonally helps with regard to reducing carbon footprint as well, and I rely on my co-op and farmer's market for great seasonal produce. I don't eat any kind of meat, but if I did it would make sense not only to eat local, but to eat seasonally. As a society we've completely forgotten that meat also is seasonal (something I learned from reading Michael Pollan). In that case, if you are going to promote beef, perhaps the more responsible thing would be to do so in the fall. when grass-fed beef is at its best. I think it would help if people who do eat meat get in the habit of treating it as a seasonal food.

Fair point, passionflower. I, for one, will readily admit to never thinking about eating meat seasonally.

In our household, we've recently stopped eating meat. Though prior to this when eating meat at home (we weren't as picky when eating meat at restaurants...though we'd try to eat at restaurants supporting local growers/farmers/raisers), we always supported our local butcher who sells local, organic meat. We don't miss meat tremendously (though I have occasional pangs for bacon), but I'm not sure this will be a lasting decision. It was made based on environmental impact, and our discomfort with the scale of food production, and not on a general disinterest in the taste.

We belong to a summer CSA, and have plans to sign on next fall for the winter CSA that is offered through the farm we support.

We live in Southern Ontario and are lucky enough to be close to a variety of farmers and producers so drinking locally produced organic milk is an easy option for us.

However, our biggest challenge is with cheese. We eat a lot of it. We frequent our local cheese shop regularly. And although we do buy a lot of Canadian cheeses (they're usually from Quebec), I can't deny that we eat cheeses from around the world. We've already talked about discussing what local, organic options are available the next time we visit. And cutting back on cheese may have to be an option.

It seems to be rarely mentioned, but one of the biggest ways that beef consumption hurts the planet is that acres of trees are cut down to make pastures to feed cows to meet the demand for beef. Sometimes the trees are cut down to the point of destroying the local ecosystem as there is topsoil run-off and erosion as a result of removing trees that keep the balance of that land in place.

I think rather than everyone trying to "give up" whatever, they need to be mindful of where they eat on the food chain and realize that the lower you eat, the less environmental destruction there will be. That being said, any increase in demand for any particular food can result in destruction. Growing soybeans, for instance, is also causing problems.

In the end, and people hate to think or say this, the truth is that the big problem is that there are too many people on the planet and the best thing people can do to help is to choose to have fewer children (or not to have them at all). The number of everything we consume and the strain on the environment becomes a much less pressing issue if the population is cut down to a point where demand can be sustained. If the population growth continues at the current level, we could all be eating nothing but rice and beans and the planet's capability to support us could still be in serious jeopardy.

We have been making big changes in the past couple years. All local free-range meat (from my parents mostly :P) and eggs, seasonal food. We did a ton of gardening and preserving last summer and I cook everything from scratch (except you know...cheese...and wine...).

I've also found that just doing that, and talking about food is a great way to raise awareness in others. I've started a blog (http://hannaishungry.blogspot.com) and people are reading it. I'm not changing the world on my own but I know that I'm influencing those around me and that keeps me encouraged.

If you're trying to reduce your total carbon footprint without actually bothering to research the carbon footprints of various items you consume, it's likely you're making nowhere near the impact you think you are. Indeed, beliefs such as "farmers markets are always better than grocery stores", "local produce is necessarily better than produce grown elsewhere", or "meat is necessarily bad for the environment" are likely to make us worse off because they ignore the fact that those statements are only true in particular conditions.

Like many others I changed my habits after reading Pollan. Now at home we only eat meat from a local, and sustainable/organic/no-outside-inputs farm. And then, we eat it seasonally and in much smaller quantities. I shop at the farmers markets, and when I can't I always pick organic over conventional. I don't drive much and use CFL's. I could go on! What gets to me is that for every cup of leftover pasta I save to prevent food waste there are thousands of pounds of pasta being thrown away at restaurants across the country. For every dinner I forgo chicken at there are hundreds of chickens being raised and consumed, the conventional way. What I am trying to get to is: it feels like an uphill battle. As if my little bit is truly, a drop in the bucket.

To that end, I would love suggestions as to ways to channel my commitment to change through an organization, or even a way to go about change that will have large-scale effects. I've already changed, how do I change the world?

I have to admit, this thread is an eye-opener for me. We do not eat local (since we moved). I have never read Pollan's book (who's that?), and those who have commented on this thread maybe would say, "Shame on you!" But the truth of the matter, is that although it sounds like the information is out there, the general population isn't looking for it (I certainly haven't). Why? Laziness, finances, not knowing WHERE to look are all factors, busy lives. I'm sure there are others. And for everyone who commented here on things they have done to improve the environment, how many more people glanced at the headline or didn't even bother to read the article? Or the people who read it and didn't bother commenting because they aren't currently contributing? (and were afraid of the "shame on you!")

So this is what I would say from some one has not done much of anything (according to this article) to change their carbon footprint. Continue with your efforts in a gentle voice and non-condemning voice. I can change (I like the idea of spending more time at the farmer's market for local produce and shopping locally in general) but it will take time and small steps. Many of us are willing to make a few changes in our lives, but having those who ARE doing it shoving it in our faces makes us just feel bad and defensive. I thought this article was REALLY successful in gently reminding me that I have the ability to help. That it is our population's TEAM EFFORT to get us back on track.

Thank you for all the comments on what you all have been doing...It is very interesting and I will be thinking about it and trying to make a few small changes within my own family! (small steps, remember) Nice article, apartment therapy.

http://www.carinagardner.com
PS. Please don't tell me "Shame on you!" I think I represent the "trying-to-be-better-but extremely-busy" part of the population.

The problem with making meat a seasonal food is that animals live year-round and have to eat year round. If the driving idea is to eat less meat by eating it seasonally, why not just eat less meat all year?

Carinagardner: thank you for your honesty and effort. The holier-than-thou, 'can't believe you live the way you do!' attitude is limiting the success of all kinds of environmental efforts, not only those related to food. There was an excellent article in Orion magazine a few months ago about the division between liberal environmentalists and rural (read: redneck) populations. The lack of communication between the two groups isn't only due to ignorance on one side--but just as much to pretentiousness on the other. Plus, we unconsciously tend to flock to those who think like we do, so it's easy to forget that there are millions of people out there who think very, very differently from us.

Annebird: thinking about the amount of food thrown away at restaurants (where I worked for years) is admittedly so, so frustrating. But keep on keepin' on!!

Hanna: great point. even if we can't influence restaurant-goers countrywide, we can raise the awareness of those around us. I regularly bemoan all the poor decisions made out there, but I bet I have many family members who aren't even aware of this kind of stuff!

Re: Anmar's comment: Although there are many, many happy vegetarians out there (i was one of them for 8 years), I don't see the purpose in giving up something you love (i.e. bacon) just for the sake of being able to say you've givenup meat in general. If you're able to buy it locally and humanely, then I'm a firm believer of everything in moderation!

Dear carinagargner:
Thank you so much for articulating what I think is a real issue with the lifestyle changes recommended to lower our carbon footprint: they're time consuming! Convenience isn't an evil monster born of selfish, lazy people. It's a response to busy lives and to social changes (such as home keeping and child rearing are no longer the full-time job of one person.)
Again I think true, lasting change will rise up from the grass roots efforts of people everywhere and not just from the law makers and politicians and social critics. That is why I hope the ideas and responses articulated here will continue to ripple out, that people will keep talking about this issue where ever they gather, be it in our back yards, churches and schools, or standing in line at the grocery store. Patience, kindness, tolerance, empathy, friendliness, perseverance: perhaps these are our most necessary tools for change.

dana and sunshinedaydream...I'm glad that I came off the way I intended. I think that people don't want to intentionally hurt the environment. I really believe if they knew the things that we did to hurt it, there would be an effort to work harder. The problem is, of course, that people are just busy (and I'm concerned with the stigmatism that follows environmentalism in general). Being busy doesn't seem like a good excuse (especially when you compare the micro (me, the individual) vs the macro (the enviroment, my children's future), but it's the one that most of us use.

All we can do is continue this discussion and dialogue and hopefully the small changes start to make a difference.

http://www.carinagardner.com

Just wanted to say thanks to passionflower for bringing up the "meat is seasonal" thing. I've been cutting back on the amount of meat I eat for a while now, based on recommendations from Pollan and Bittman, and that most people eat twice as much as they need anyway, but when faced with all the possible choices for my meals it's a bit overwhelming. I think that eating meat seasonally will work for me, as a simplifying measure - beef in autumn, lamb in spring, give 'em a miss the rest of the time. Does anyone know what season/s chicken is, if the animals are kept to old-style farming methods instead of agribusiness ones? I'm pretty sure fish will depend on the breed.