Here is my response to the contest by
The question is "How can we Feed the world?"
Photo by http://www.sarahramsden.com/grass-fed-beef/
This is a complex question that I have sought to find answers to for quite some time. I grew up in a farming community, and not the quaint, traditional, healthy farming community one would like to think of. No, it was a monoculture, corporate, mega farm- style community, where 1 farmer owned an entire township! Don't even ask how many sections/acres of land that is, I think you get the point.
Ten years ago, 1 quarter section in the area was worth about $50,000. Today in that same area, a quarter of land is now $250,000! Tell me how exactly a family wanting to homestead and do things the right way, can buy into that without going into debt. If you want to subdivide and buy say, 10 acres to try and make a go of it, good luck! No one wants to parcel out these giant mega farms, the cost of subdividing is ridiculous, and at 1,500 or so an acre, that better be some pristine land!
Is this a problem of overpopulation? As far as I can tell, there aren't more families than there used to be out trying to feed themselves on a small homestead. To the contrary, there are old abandoned farm houses everywhere vacant! It would seem that there are actually less people in this area than ever before...
So what is my solution? In order to feed the world, people need to take responsibility for where their food comes from. I worked on a dairy farm for 3 years in northern BC and I find it absolutely dispicable that people will buy dairy products off the shelf with no idea where it came from, what was fed to the animals, or how they are treated, or the impacts of all this on the environment. Just as atrocious however, is the vegan who goes and buys grain products off of a shelf, or vegetables, when they have no idea where the food came from, how it was grown, how many chemicals, acres of land, or animal habitats were destroyed. How much diesel fuel, how many wheels turned to spray how many chemicals on that gmo crop to get your tofu on the shelf?
So for me, the answer is that we need to take responsibility to grow our own food, or buy locally, from a farmer we know and trust. I happen to live in Canada. For those of you who don't know, it freezes here for 7 months out of the year, so could I live on plants? For a small fortune maybe, but this would be highly inefficient and further the environmental impact concern. I can however own dairy animals, a cow, goats, sheep, etc. Produce all my own dairy and enough to share with others, and properly compost any waste from that animal to feed my garden when it does produce in the summer months. Should I stop eating chicken eggs because there are people who lock chickens in cages and feed them something totally inappropriate for chickens? Alternately I could raise my own. 15 birds feed my small family of 4 all year long, and I have about 2 dozen extra to share every week. Chickens are an amazing composting tool, they turn all of our kitchen scraps into gold for the garden, and I can even feed them waste from houses in town that would have otherwise ended up in landfills.
How did the world feed itself traditionally? Take a look at any tribe of self sustaining ancient culture. Did they truck food in from 1000's of miles away? No, they worked with what they had. There were times of feast and famine. no one supported McDonalds and Burger King, they supported their local farmers! There was no choice but to farm in a way that would feed everyone in the area, because if the farming practices were not in tune with nature, they would fail, and there would not be a tribe. Veganism is neither healthy, nor sustainable. "But look at horses, and cows, and gorillas" they say "they live on grass and vegetables". Horses, cows, and gorillas do not have higher functioning brains. They do not fly in airplanes, they do not call each other and have conversations on skype on the other side of the world. Our brains require healthy amounts of saturated animal fats and cholesterol to function properly. Plant diets are not sustainable because there is insurmountable input for smaller return than, say butchering an animal that will provide literally hundreds of meals. These animals play a crucial role in harvesting perennial grasslands, and fertilizing as they go the way nature intended, and the way traditional tribes benefited from, before the advent of sterile, mono culture corporate farms took over.
In closing, I know this is a sensitive issue for a lot of people, and everyone is trying to do the right thing. I've been vegan, I've researched immensely in this area, I have analyzed this topic thoroughly, and what works for me is a traditional, small scale, family farm. I am lucky enough to live close to people who produce their own food and feed hundreds of other people just from what they can grow in a traditional, low impact, natural manner.
For resources on traditional farming practices that feed the world, here is some further reading:
http://www.polyfacefarms.com/
https://www.westonaprice.org/
https://dustinsview.com/all/beyond-vegetarian-one-mans-journey-from-tofu-to-tallow-in-search-of-the-moral-meal-interview/
The omnivores dilemma is a must read for anyone purporting to want to feed the world, as well as Joel salatins books, and Sally Fallon Morel.
