Food Rules

Eat.

Food activism was alive and well even a century ago, but it was considered common sense, not radical eating.  The most interesting thing about these US Food Administration recommendations from 1917 is the nod to buying locally.  The local food movement is largely touted as a 21st Century phenomenon, but the value of local food sources has long been understood.  Generations that lived through contagion, wars, or the great depression all understand  the value and necessity of having food at hand, and being able to grow more of it yourself.  There are few communities that grow enough food locally to be able to sustain themselves through crises, and crises are becoming more common as food sourcing and distribution is consolidated.  Interruptions in transportation or computing systems, extreme weather events, and economic instability all threaten the current food structure, maybe it's time to start listening.

This Little Piggy

bacon.

Its been 16 years since I've had a piece of bacon. For more than half my life and to varying degrees, I have eliminated meat and dairy from my diet. When I was younger it was a choice based on the loosely formulated ethics of myself and my peers. And then it became about nutrition. Now if I'm asked for a reason for not eating meat I say that it's some combination of ethics, health, and habit. A lazy answer at best. But the real reason to not eat meat or dairy, or at least not very much and certainly locally raised, the reason that most accurately encompasses all of the repercussions of this aspect of modern diet, is really very simple.

Not eating meat may just result in world peace.

Meat production and consumption is tied to global hunger, deforestation, soil loss, water quality, class wars, and global warming. As just one example, 70% of U.S. grain and 80% of corn goes to feed cattle, not people, and the World Watch Institute tells us that "Continued growth in meat output is dependent on feeding grain to animals, creating competition between affluent meat eaters and the world's poor."

Not to mention the distressing karmic consequences of our collective and ongoing abuse of the very animals we depend upon for sustenance.

In his essay "The Only Diet for a Peacemaker is a Vegetarian Diet" Fr. John Dear discusses both the tangible and ethical connections between peace and food consumption and ties his discussion to the Christian directive to pursue and propagate peace. He notes that Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, Thich Nhat Hanh, Tolstoy and St. Francis of Assisi all agree, vegetarianism is a keystone to humanity, compassion, and peace.

To read Dear's entire essay:

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/10/10250

To watch the veggie world's response to Paris Hilton's Carl's Junior Ad:

PETA's banned Superbowl Ad

http://www.peta.org/content/standalone/VeggieLove/Default.aspx

Photo Courtesy of: http://www2.journalnow.com/

The Only Diet for a Peacemaker is a Vegetarian Diet, John Dear, Published on Thursday, July 10, 2008 by the National Catholic Reporter