Discussion Board: "Food Politics & Sustainability in the Global Marketplace"

[Joshua Schlachet]

This thread will serve as our discussion board for the theme "Food Politics & Sustainability in the Global Marketplace," which will be the topic for our Kyoto JP event. Please feel free to post your own opinions about the subject and respond to those of others. We hope to post comments from the speakers and/or streaming video once the event takes place. In the meantime, let the conversation begin!
 
Theme Description (Draft):

As international exchange continues to expand in the 21st century, so too does exposure to an ever-increasing variety of food items and other consumable commodities. In terms of both the cuisines we enjoy and the cultural identities we construct around them, contemporary technology and product diversification have opened the global marketplace to a range of new ways to understand our interconnected society. 

 

Yet these new possibilities come with a cost. When we consider the earth's ballooning population, we begin to sense a tension between agro-business interests and movements advocating local-centered food production. Recent threats to food safety and the countervailing outcry towards isolationist labeling laws in Japan and America highlight global food culture's socio-economic impact on the developing world. The spiraling energy consumption of our growing distribution network compels us to consider food politics hand-in-hand with environmental issues.

 

This forum will take an in-depth look at the politics of food and it's impact both on the physical exchange of goods and the cultural implications of such interactions. Focusing on the role of the Japan-America partnership in approaching these complex issues, we hope to provide a fresh perspective on the importance of such a basic product to the formation of our global community.

We look forward to everyone's comments! To talk about this topic, please post a response to this thread rather than a new message. Please remember that all JASC alumni can also begin your own discussion board threads on any theme you choose. Think of it as E-Special Topics!
 
Thanks,
The JP Team

[Ryan]

I've posted a recent article by Michael Pollan called "Farmer in
Chief" which provides a good overview of food issues in the United
States. In it he describes how we're basically "eating oil," as
factory farms use 10 calories of petroleum-based energy to produce
only 1 calorie of food energy. A labor-intensive organic farm, on the
other hand, can return many more calories than are used to produce the
food while creating more jobs and not polluting the environment with
herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, tractor exhaust, etc...

I'm all for making agriculture as local as possible. Some trading and
importing is necessary; I live in a cold climate, and obviously would
have to do without a lot of foods if I wanted to go entirely local.
However, even though I live in Idaho (the potato capital of the U.S.),
most of the potatoes I eat come from hundreds of miles away - Idaho
potatoes are all exported, and then we pay to import other potatoes
from somewhere else.

I think the only groups really complaining about "isolationist" food
policies are international corporations who are the only ones who have
ever benefited from free trade laws. They want as few restrictions as
possible so they can be free to exploit peoples with no environmental
or worker protections. The world would obviously be more secure if
every nation could provide for most of its own food needs, but
corporations make too much money sending American cookies to Denmark
and then sending Danish cookies to America.

I've recently declared myself a "localvore." I go out of my way to by
food produced locally and to my surprise have been able to find meat,
cheese, eggs, fruit, vegetables, ice cream, chocolate, beer, and salad
dressing - all produced locally. This, in a place that has less than
a six-month growing season. Not only do I support my community this
way, but I get a fresher, healthier product and it usually costs about
the same as factory-food. Anyway, I've ranted enough. Read the
article, and if you like it, move on to "The Omnivore's Dilemma."

Ryan