This past Sunday, I was asked to speak to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Briarcliff, Croton and Ossining about Ethical Eating. While I sometimes half-jokingly refer to myself as a food evangelist, I’ve never actually delivered a “sermon” about food.
Here are some excerpts from my talk.
PS: Do you need a speaker for an event? Contact me via email: susan@drsusanrubin.com or click here for more info.
I first learned about the UU and their focus on Ethical Eating in August of 2009. Rev Peggy Clarke hosted an “Eat In” at the UU Northern Westchester. An “eat in” is a potluck with a purpose. Organized by Slow Food USA, over 300 of these eat ins happened in all 50 states. More than 20,000 people attended. The goal was to send a message to congress to help schools serve healthier meals for lunch.
Slow Food was started in Italy by Carlo Petrini back in the 1980’s (for more on that story, click here.) I served as part of the local Slow Food chapter’s leadership up until the end of 2010. What I love about the Slow Food movement is their mission of supporting food that is good, clean and fair. How’s that for ethical eating?
I am very impressed with the fact the the UU has taken on ethical eating as a congregational study and action issue. I devoured the online materials and I brought along a sheet from the study guide on how you can help to influence your local community and the world. ( see the study guide by clicking here).
When the topic of Ethical Eating arises, the first thing that comes to the minds of most people is vegetarians and vegans. This is not going to be one of those talks about how people who don’t eat animals are somehow ethically superior to those who do. As a nutritionist and food activist, I’ve been a witness to the ongoing vegan vs. carnivore debate. Its not as simple as it seems.
Discussions of veganism often results in guilt and judgmentalism, something my friend the Rev. Michael Tino of the UU Northern Westchester calls Food Fundamentalism. We all must strive to avoid extremes when it comes to food, and especially judgments about other people’s food. Just like with meditation, there are many paths up the mountain: there is no one right way to eat.
Yet, it is true that many Americans could use to eat less animal protein for both personal and planetary health. But note that it is not as simple as switching out burgers for tofu. That tofu could have come from an industrial farm in South America where a rainforest used to be. The eating of plants vs. animals is only one facet of ethical eating.
Looking beyond the plants vs. animals quandary, my work has evolved beyond basic nutrition. I have been studying the food system and quite frankly fell down a rabbit hole. Now that I’ve learned what I’ve learned about how our system of food is unsustainable, I can no longer blissfully eat without thinking about the future.
Seven generations is an ecological concept that originated with the Iroquois. It urges the current generation of humans to live sustianbly and to work for the benefit of the seventh generation into the future. When we eat, do we consider whether the decisions we make today would benefit their children seven generations into the future?
When eating, do we even consider two generations? Our grandchildren?
My grandma’s parents came to this country from Norway and lived most of her life in Chicago, Illinois. She passed away at age 104. I still remember Nana telling my mom that Flinstones vitamins were useless, after all the scientists hadn’t really figured out all the vitamins and nutrients, that real food was the answer to good health. As I spent the last 10 years studying nutrition, I am certain she was right. Her Food IQ was higher than most people today.
The way we eat today is drastically different from that of our grandparents. 50% of our food is consumed outside the home. Much of it would be unrecognizable and unpronounceable by our grandparents. Is this progress? Is the food we eat good, clean and fair?
We’ve created a new religion: nutritionism.
We’ve given away our power as eaters to an outside authority: the nutritionist/ dietitian. We’ve lost sight of food in the quest for good nutrients (i.e. DHA, fish oil, oat bran) and we scramble to avoid the evil satanic nutrients (fat, salt) . Somewhere in between all the calorie counts and micronutrients, we lost the meaning of food.
I have an easy solution to this over emphasis on nutritionism. It’s quite simple.
Grow a garden.
Junk doesn’t grow in gardens. Real food does. Its the best way to inspire both kids and adults to fall in love with vegetables.
The time has come when we might want to consider growing food instead of lawns. As the economy continues to crumble, both peak oil and climate change add up to rising food prices. My friends from the Westchester Food Bank tell me that the need for food in our county is higher than ever. Growing your own food will pay dividends higher than any stock on Wall Street.
Through my studies, I’ve learned that our food system is broken beyond repair. Our industrialized food relies heavily on cheap oil. We use 10 calories of fossil fuels to produce 1 calorie of food. Those are the calories we need to be watching, fossil fuel calories. Cheap and easy to get oil is a thing of the past and will never return. Oil now costs over $100 a barrel, that impacts every facet of the food chain, resulting in higher prices.
I dream about a better food system, one that will be more localized, diverse and resilient. That’s why I devote some of my energy to Transition Westchester, a local hub of information about the Transition movement. Its lots of fun too. I am working with fellow Transition Westchester friends to create a short movie about backyard chickens along with another venture teaching worm composting.
Which brings me to another facet of ethical eating that many people forget to consider. The other end of the food chain. Here’s where composting comes in.
Instead of tossing your food scraps into the garbage, put them into a compost bin. Either a backyard compost system or a worm system. This method turns food waste into valuable nutrient dense fertilizer for your plants or gardens. Worm composting enables you to reincarnate your veggie scraps into black gold for your garden.
Composting is a great way to reconnect us to the cycles of nature. Worms are a care free pet, no noise, they thrive on neglect. Kids love taking on this project of saving food scraps for their worm friends. This, too is ethical eating.
Questions? Comments? Please post below!
