What to Eat

With the diet wars in full-swing and everyone trying to save the planet, I would suggest that we return to the natural cycle of life. This would of course exclude forcing our will on the planet for ever greater production of consumables and food, most of which is thrown away.

I love the chapter in Michael Pollan’s fantastic book, the Omnivore’s Dilemma, where he describes the variety on and sustainability of Polyface Farm. I would suggest that most family and traditional farmers and producers have a love of the land and their animals.

It is important to understand our impact on the world, whether this is by supporting mono-culture fields of grains and legumes, that require pesticides that damage insects and birds and thus the eco-systems that they are part of; or by keeping animals in small paddocks with a single grass varietal as food and no natural protection from the elements – or worse housing them in great feed-lots or barns, where they require regular antibiotics to be barely kept alive.

The Polyface mission statement is To develop environmentally, economically, and emotionally enhancing agricultural prototypes and facilitate their duplication throughout the world.  How great it is, that emotional enhancement is seen as part of agriculture, as I believe that what and how we eat has a profoundly emotional effect on many levels.

Respect for, appreciation of and thanks for the food on our plate and the greater eco-system that we are part of, will go a long way to solve our dilemma of what to eat.