Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
of life. It is another
raw material
to produce something sellable to
the better-off—whether it is factory-farmed meat or fuel. Inter-
estingly, as to meat, I use the word “sellable,” not “desired,” in-
tentionally, for in the 1950s and '60s it took quite an ad campaign
and a misleading government grading and labeling system to con-
vince eaters that grain-fed meat—marbled with fat from massive
feeding—was desirable.
In one-rule economics, producers are trapped on an endless,
single-focused production treadmill, destroying our own and other
species' ecological life support. As other chapters show in heart-
breaking detail, we generate rural landscapes full of stress and
loss—loss of family-scale farms that have proven the world over
to be most efficient and loss of diverse species, healthy soil and
water, and cared-for animals. None of these staggering losses is,
of course, reflected in the price of “cheap grain.” No wonder, as
this system spreads throughout the world, it fails to end hunger. It
intensifies hunger.
So, why think twice about eating factory-farmed meat, eggs, and
milk? This topic has nine other great reasons. The main impulse of
this final reason is the strength the choice gives us. The choice may
not change the world, but it does send ripples throughout our econ-
omy. Maybe even more importantly,
it changes us
, so we are more
able to change the world: as we choose a diet reflecting our body's
needs
and
the Earth's, a choice that is aligned with the needs of the
most invisible on the planet—small food producers and the hungry
worldwide—we feel more aligned inside. (Not to mention health-
ier!) More aligned, we feel more confidence, more power.
Choosing a plant-and-planet-centered diet is like wearing a
string around one's finger. It's a reminder that we have choices.
We can choose to live in the real world, not in the make-believe one
generated by an economic dogma that destroys life. It's a reminder
that this tragedy is needless. It is actively created.
