Why The Fight Over The Most Sustainable Diet Is Missing The Point
Originally posted on kisstheground.com
Written by Rick Perillo
Our food is destructive. Every piece of food we eat has altered the earth in some way. To reduce our devastation, we form rigid identities around our food choices. We belittle other identities and struggle for the moral high ground:
“You’d save more water by not eating a pound of meat than you would if you didn’t shower for six months.”
“The vegan diet wastes valuable land that could be used to feed people.”
Like-minded folks throw park picnics and dinner parties featuring their superior diets, reinforcing their worldview.
We wear badges of honor celebrating our caveman-like diet or our blood-free-meal.
While we argue over who has the more sustainable diet, agriculture continues to turn fertile earth to desert.
The food we eat, whether it is bacon or tofu, is based on an ideology of control of the land. All food has blood on it.
But, it doesn’t have to.
Farms can create wildlife habitats and restore water cycles. Nutrient dense food can pull carbon out of the air and sequester it in the earth. Our money can support farmers who are treated fairly and work to build healthy soil. And yes, it can be done while feeding the world. But first, we need to change the discussion.