Sustaining Us

As if we didn’t have enough of a reason to go sustainable…now food prices are rising. The Omnivore’s Dilemma was written by Michael Pollan more than two years ago, but its message then was that human beings reside at the top of the food chain, and consuming meat requires a great deal of lower-food-chain resources. What does this mean to us? Essentially, if I choose to eat 1 pound of steak, I am foregoing 7 pounds of corn, rice, or other grain. Think about how many bowls of rice that is. For a cow to pack on another pound of body mass, it needs to consume 8 lbs. of grain. If the average bowl of rice uses 8 oz. We’re talking about sixteen bowls of white rice for one 16 oz. porterhouse.

For much of American history, this wasn’t a problem. Corn, our staple crop, has produced surpluses, and the Trojan Horse that is genetically modified corn, has only furthered corn as the multipurpose staple of our food economy. Bountiful harvests of corn were quite cheap. So cheap in fact, that cattle farmers could feed dozens, sometimes hundreds of animals, pounds and pounds of food every day at a cost that is as cheap as cafeteria lunches in America’s schools.

The result has been the fallacy that meat is cheap, bountiful, and a main-stay of any diet. While in fact, meat throughout history, has been a luxury of sorts. Diets in the far east have always been lauded for their high fiber and lean protein characteristics. That meant rice, soy, and fish were always on the menu and were all cheap in price and resources. Contrast that with an American diet of red-meat, simple sugars, and fat. Meat and fat reside close to the top of the food chain. Compare the two diets, and you’ll find that throughout history, a modern American diet is resource expensive compared to an Asian-Pacific diet or any other diet in the world. American settlers roughing their way through settlements weren’t about to fork over bushels of grain to farm animals when they barely made it through the winter themselves.

Thus, the problem here lies with food supply. As the American dollar slips, American’s are seeing the international community buy American crops at a steep discount. We no longer have cheap food for ourselves. Unfortunately, America supplied large amounts of surplus grain to third-world countries, now those countries are seeing shortages as well. As emerging developing countries gain wealth, they emulate American lifestyles and consumer greater quantities of meat, compounding the problem.

  With food prices naturally rising with the dollar’s demise, ethanol is gaining in popularity. In a twist of irony, ethanol is meant to combat global warming. While everyone is debating the existence of global warming, the effects of global warming are being seen and predicted. Like the debate on global warming, there is debate about whether or not crop yields will increase or decrease with the change in climates. No matter which side of the fence you reside, the fact is, crops that have grown successfully in certain regions for decades will cease to do so because of higher temperatures and less precipitation. Will other areas see increased precipitation and more ideal temperatures, yes, but the transition of land in those areas will be neither cheap nor quick nor environmentally friendly. Ethanol is now demanding not just surplus corn, but the food supply itself. Federal and statutory mandates now require ethanol as part of the fuel mix. The combination of changing climate and  ethanol conversion means even less supply to fulfill demand, result…higher prices.   

Americans are facing a precarious world. Food is becoming expensive for a variety of reasons that seem more and more likely to persist. For most, the meat first philosophy is finely ingrained in our culture. Barbecues, steak dinners, Big Macs, “Where’s the beef?” This paradigm will need to change. The prices of bread, beer, and other “staples” are rising. The problem with rising farm commodity prices (think wheat, orange juice, barley, corn) is that these are raw materials, low food chain items, meaning they’re effect is felt throughout the food chain. A mad cow scare affects the top of the food chain, leaving the produce aisle unscathed. But rising commodity prices are scary. You will see the price of Frito’s rise in price as fast as your burger. Cheaper substitutes become harder to find. The poorest will not be able to afford any level of sustenance. The cheap. nutrition devoid foods, that have plagued the poor with health problems will also disappear, leaving the poor not just malnurished, but also starved.

What advice is available? Eating lower on the food chain to relieve the pressure meat puts on food supplies is a good start. Local farmer’s markets are the best and most effective solution. These farmers bring a variety of native or adapted crops to the community and are usually more nutritious then processed foods. Recycling your hard earned money in your local community has its benefits as well, see the trickle effect of economics. So keep in mind, when you go to the store. Food choices that have been historically cheaper than your farmers markets are now becoming comparable if not a better deal. Take Fritos for example. A corn product, transported thousands of miles, and processed using large amounts of electricity. Corn prices are rising, oil prices are sky high, and electricity costs are outpacing inflation. Compare that to your local farmer’s produce. He travels shorter distances with a greater variety of produce requiring less processing and greater nutrition. The local movement is the answer, the speed of the paradigm shift is the question.

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