Rethinking Lifestyle

In this time of low energy prices, we do well to remember that the general energy price trend remains, of necessity, upwards. After all, the energy we use is still overwhelmingly fossil derived, hence non-renewable, and we continue to deplete the limited supply.

I read recently that it takes 16 units of energy to put one unit of energy onto the typical North American dinner table. My mind went quickly to the distances our food in transported, fertilizer used by our farmers, the grain fed to livestock to produce the meat we eat and the throw away plastic packaging our food comes wrapped in. But as I continued reading, I found that although significant quantities of fossil fuel are used transporting our food, fertilizing our crops, producing our meat and packaging our food; none of these contribute as much to the energy used in putting food on our table as the trip to the grocery store in our SUV.

The reality is, that most of the power to wean our food system from fossil fuel rests with eaters, not farmers. The choices we make in our homes and kitchens matter. Although North American farmers have become more efficient in recent years, the North American food system has not. It has become less efficient. Our refrigerators may be more efficient, but they are bigger. We know that we throw out more food than we should and are trying to reduce that, but we also consume more restaurant meals than we formerly did. Restaurants discard significantly more food than home kitchens.

Weaning the food system off fossil fuels demands that we simplify our diets and kitchens instead of demanding an endless parade of bigger, better and faster.

I am involved in the supervision of an allotment garden scheme in Steinbach. Individuals and families who don’t have the necessary space on their yard to grow vegetables have the opportunity to grow there food here. At this time of year it is a joy to walk past the gardens and see so much of the produce now ready to eat. I see gardeners with happy faces. This is good.

But there is also a discouraging element to this. The faces I see are mostly senior faces. The gardeners are mostly people who grew up at a time when all families grew a significant portion of the food they consumed. Even now, as they age, they cannot leave this. I see few young families.

Of course when fossil fuel prices again rise (and they will), interest in local food production will again increase, even among younger people. As interest increases, people will again focus on developing gardening space and gardening skills. Of course they will. But both of these developments take time. Gardening is a good craft to hone at any time, and the habit of growing what you eat may not be significant now, but the time will come when that habit will stand you in extremely good stead.

I remember my parent’s garden. It grew all of the vegetables we would eat all year. Today I am struggling with “how did they do it?” I can preserve my carrots in the refrigerator, but my parents did not have a refrigerator. I lacto-ferment some of my cabbage so it will keep through the winter, but the results are inconsistent. I do not always like the resulting sauerkraut. I’ve thrown some out. My parents did not. There is a lot to learn. There is value in learning before crunch time.