Food Security and Urban Agriculture
These are some terms that are pretty new to me. I live in (am from) a 'farming community' that doesn't have much farming to speak of.
Since I became involved with the PRC I have become very familiar with them.
Food Security and Sustainability and Environmental Health can be accomplished with Urban Agriculture. There are so many things that are right with Urban Agriculture that I'm not sure where to start or whether I will even think of all of them but I will try.
This past weekend there was a recall of 6000 cartons of Dole Cantaloupe because they were contaminated with Salmonella. Last fall there was a recall on bagged spinach on account of E coli.
The cantaloupe had travelled all the way from Costa Rica, I am not sure if they know when or how the food was contaminated but it would seem to me that the longer and further the food travels, the more likely it will spoil, come into contact with contaminants or even be at a higher risk of intentional contamination (if it arrives at all). If ever we had an emergency, an earthquake, war, or any reason that highway, bridge and/or train travel is disrupted for a length of time we will have 2 to 3 days worth of food. 'They' (officials and educated experts) say that we should have AT LEAST 72 hours worth of supplies in the event of an earthquake, that is for our household not the entire region. So when your supplies run out after day 3, unless the bridges have been rebuilt or the war is over, we would be in very dire straights.
The environmental impact is also high, the fuel used and emissions produced are all a waste as the fruit has to be thrown out. That, and as it turns out, Cantaloupe can be grown in North America outside during the warmer part of the year, and in greenhouses the rest of the time.
I know some people could argue that there are jobs being created along the way, the people in Costa Rica who grow the cantaloupe (who's living, working and pay conditions may or may not be considered very good), the transport people who bring it up, the border staff who search the trucks for illegal aliens and drugs, the fast food workers who feed the truckers as they head north with their bounty, and all along the way we are paying for these things and at the end of the line we are throwing the food out because it could kill us.
The only thing in the list that makes me a feel a little torn is the jobs of the people in Costa Rica, however, not only do we our own population living in deplorable conditions who could probably work to grow the cantaloupe up here, but the prevalance of corruption and crime in Costa Rica tells me that the cantaloupe we are buying is not really helping the country.
So we can look at the proposal the PRC has released (or will in 47 minutes) and see the benefits that can be had.
-Our food will be fresher, pretty much from the ground to our tables and less opportunity would be had for contamination.
-We could create jobs in our own communities.
-We could learn how to eat in a nutritionally sound way.
-In the event of a natural distaster there would be a system in place where there would be a large amount of viable food available for a substantial amount of time (far beyond our current 2 day supply).
-Fuel usage and emissions resulting from food growth and processing would be close to eliminated.
-We could ensure that the food is grown in a responsible way, environmentally and through socially proper means, any day you could stop by the urban farms and see that the staff are being treated well with decent pay and work conditions.
At the end of the day the benefits outweight any theoretical negatives, we would be healthier and self sufficient without being forced to rely on other countries, namely the United States-where 80% or more, of our organic produce is from; and most other items are at the least, transported through.
Since I became involved with the PRC I have become very familiar with them.
Food Security and Sustainability and Environmental Health can be accomplished with Urban Agriculture. There are so many things that are right with Urban Agriculture that I'm not sure where to start or whether I will even think of all of them but I will try.
This past weekend there was a recall of 6000 cartons of Dole Cantaloupe because they were contaminated with Salmonella. Last fall there was a recall on bagged spinach on account of E coli.
The cantaloupe had travelled all the way from Costa Rica, I am not sure if they know when or how the food was contaminated but it would seem to me that the longer and further the food travels, the more likely it will spoil, come into contact with contaminants or even be at a higher risk of intentional contamination (if it arrives at all). If ever we had an emergency, an earthquake, war, or any reason that highway, bridge and/or train travel is disrupted for a length of time we will have 2 to 3 days worth of food. 'They' (officials and educated experts) say that we should have AT LEAST 72 hours worth of supplies in the event of an earthquake, that is for our household not the entire region. So when your supplies run out after day 3, unless the bridges have been rebuilt or the war is over, we would be in very dire straights.
The environmental impact is also high, the fuel used and emissions produced are all a waste as the fruit has to be thrown out. That, and as it turns out, Cantaloupe can be grown in North America outside during the warmer part of the year, and in greenhouses the rest of the time.
I know some people could argue that there are jobs being created along the way, the people in Costa Rica who grow the cantaloupe (who's living, working and pay conditions may or may not be considered very good), the transport people who bring it up, the border staff who search the trucks for illegal aliens and drugs, the fast food workers who feed the truckers as they head north with their bounty, and all along the way we are paying for these things and at the end of the line we are throwing the food out because it could kill us.
The only thing in the list that makes me a feel a little torn is the jobs of the people in Costa Rica, however, not only do we our own population living in deplorable conditions who could probably work to grow the cantaloupe up here, but the prevalance of corruption and crime in Costa Rica tells me that the cantaloupe we are buying is not really helping the country.
So we can look at the proposal the PRC has released (or will in 47 minutes) and see the benefits that can be had.
-Our food will be fresher, pretty much from the ground to our tables and less opportunity would be had for contamination.
-We could create jobs in our own communities.
-We could learn how to eat in a nutritionally sound way.
-In the event of a natural distaster there would be a system in place where there would be a large amount of viable food available for a substantial amount of time (far beyond our current 2 day supply).
-Fuel usage and emissions resulting from food growth and processing would be close to eliminated.
-We could ensure that the food is grown in a responsible way, environmentally and through socially proper means, any day you could stop by the urban farms and see that the staff are being treated well with decent pay and work conditions.
At the end of the day the benefits outweight any theoretical negatives, we would be healthier and self sufficient without being forced to rely on other countries, namely the United States-where 80% or more, of our organic produce is from; and most other items are at the least, transported through.
posted by Kiki @ 9:13 AM
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