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by Bonnie Lane Webber
Bonnie Lane Webber, founder of grass-roots, is an educator on Sustainable
Food Choices. Bonnie received her Masters in Nutrition from Columbia Teachers
College in 1978. After graduating, she did nutrition counseling and ran a school
lunch program, cooking food "from scratch" with as many ingredients
as possible bought from local farmers' markets. Eight years ago she helped
to start the Carnegie Hill/Yorkville CSA.
The Sierra Club defines sustainable consumption as the use of goods and services
that satisfy basic needs and improve quality of life while minimizing the usage
of irreplaceable natural resources and the by-products of toxic materials,
waste and pollution. Bonnie loves food and thinks the food we have in NY is
amazing, but wants us to consciously think about our food choices in terms
of sustainability. We must realize the effect that our buying purchases make.
Large food companies do. They spend as much money to influence our food choices
as is spent to influence tobacco sales.
Here are some of Bonnie’s tips:
- Eat the greatest variety of the least processed food and eat
less of it.
- Buy organic food or food that is grown under IPM (Integrated
Pest Management) but, equally important, buy food that is grown locally.
Food starts to
deteriorate nutritionally as soon as it is picked, and food that is shipped
great distances
(as is much of our organic food) produces 'transportation pollution.'
And be aware that some food from overseas is often grown with pesticides,
fungicides
and fertilizers that are not allowed here. Shop at farmers' markets.
Join a
CSA. Check www.JustFood.org or
www.sustainabletable.org.
- Eat less meat. Buy grass-fed, free range or "local" meat.
Not CAFO meat. The environmental harm caused by CAFOs (Concentrated Animal
Feeding
Operations)
is enormous. The untreated animal waste is typically dumped into 'lagoons'
which can overflow. In 1997 heavy rains in NC caused the waste pits
from huge pig farms to overflow, resulting in the death of 450,000 fish.
Animals
in the
CAFOs need antibiotics to keep them healthy in their confined areas.
In fact, 70% of all antibiotics in the US are used for this purpose.
- Eat fish
that is sustainable. Carry the Audubon Seafood Wallet card with
you and consult it when you go to restaurants or grocery stores in order
to make selections from healthy, thriving sources. The card is available
from http://seafood.audubon.org/
- Avoid farm raised salmon that is not certified by the Marine Stewardship
Council http://www.msc.org/ as they can be detrimental to wild salmon.
And do not buy bill fish (swordfish etc.). Their stocks are dangerously
depleted.
- Become a vegetarian. Eating lower on the food chain conserves habitats
and avoids pollution problems. Raising grain and vegetables for human
consumption requires far less acreage than is required for raising cattle.
This leaves
more habitat for wild animals.
- Support restaurants that use local farmers' products. Check out www.dinegreen.com or www.vergant.com/growing.htm for
a list of these restaurants. Ask in restaurants and stores where the food
is from. Encourage them to buy
locally. Compliment
them on the good things that they do carry. The manager of a Pioneer
grocery store in New York said that if he gets two requests for
a product,
he will
stock it. Our voices and dollars do count.
- Bring local and sustainable choices into schools. Introduce nutrition
education. Encourage the buying of local fruits and vegetables.
- Learn to cook. Share recipes. Eat together often with family and
friends. Share your knowledge of sustainable food choices.
"Just as there is an ethic to growing food there is also an ethic to
eating. As we continue to be more aware of what we are eating, we must also
think about how we eat. The ritual of coming together to break bread was once
the basis of community; yet with the onset of instant dinners and television,
fewer and fewer meals are eaten together; more often than not we now consume
our food alone and ‘on the run.’ This disrespects food and
ourselves. Let us reclaim the family and community meal where values are
taught and senses
are heightened."
– Alice Waters of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, CA
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