The Crisis with Food

Everything is connected. So it's not a surprise that when you raise crops and animals in a respectful way they are healthier (because they don't need antibiotics or pesticides) and they taste better.

For several years my husband and I have been trying to figure out the best way to eat - for ourselves, for the planet. We talk to local butchers, we read Michael Pollan, we soul search. Do you buy only organic, and if so, only local organic? Do you exclude all meat and fish because they're so often raised inhumanely, or because they're fed meat when they are really herbivores? or because it's just cruel to eat animals? Or do you eat locally, humanely raised, grass-fed/ grass-finished animals because they are a good source of protein and that way you aren't importing tofu or beans from half-way across the globe? And if you do that is that enough???

When I talk about this crises with my meat-loving friends their eyes glaze over, and they wave their hands like "I'm so sick of this." I sense that either they feel bad about eating meat so they don't want to talk about, it or they just think I'm a softy because 'I love animals,' not really understanding how everything is connected. So the following video from Dan Barber at TED (Chef and owner of Blue Hill) was a beacon of light: even the manliest meat-eater cannot argue against taste.

Even if you don't care about global warming, and you don't care about animals, and you don't care about your health, you will probably still care about taste! I am hopeful this will help create deeper and more widespread understanding of the food/planet/health crises in order to bring about change.