Building Ecotopia: Dietary Considerations
by Chuck Hall
by Chuck Hall
Building an Ecotopia requires redesigning our current consumer culture by starting over from the ground up. Our most basic needs are food, clothing and shelter. Today we’re literally going to start at the ground level by discussing the agricultural and dietary components of our Ecotopian society.
The ideal form of diet in Ecotopia would be vegetarianism. There are a number of reasons for this. The first and foremost reason is the independence such a diet offers. For example, growing your own food at home reduces grocery bills, or eliminates them altogether. When you grow your own food, you have control over pesticides and herbicides as well, so you don’t have to guess whether the food you’re eating is truly ‘organically grown.’
There’s also good news for those of you who think that you’d need a huge farm to grow your own food. A new form of gardening, called ‘biointensive gardening,’ has shown that it is possible to greatly increase the yield from the average home garden. John Jeavons and Alan Chadwick, pioneers in this field, have demonstrated that it is possible to feed a family of four vegans with only 1/8 of an acre. Jeavons gives an in-depth review of his methods in his book, How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible On Less Land Than You Can Imagine (2006, Ten Speed Press).
Another reason for vegetarianism in our Ecotopian society is the plethora of health benefits such a diet offers. I’ve already written about these benefits back in September of last year. Since that time, health studies continue to compile evidence that vegetarianism is the way to go! Neal D. Barnard, M. D president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, says that "For people battling overweight and heart disease, a vegetarian diet can be a life-saving prescription."
Finally, the environmental impact of a vegetarian diet, when examined against the environmental impact of a carnivorous diet, comes out way ahead. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations formed the Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) to study the impact of the livestock industry on the environment. In 2007, a report entitled Livestock’s Long Shadow was released by this agency. Some of the findings of this report included:
The ideal form of diet in Ecotopia would be vegetarianism. There are a number of reasons for this. The first and foremost reason is the independence such a diet offers. For example, growing your own food at home reduces grocery bills, or eliminates them altogether. When you grow your own food, you have control over pesticides and herbicides as well, so you don’t have to guess whether the food you’re eating is truly ‘organically grown.’
There’s also good news for those of you who think that you’d need a huge farm to grow your own food. A new form of gardening, called ‘biointensive gardening,’ has shown that it is possible to greatly increase the yield from the average home garden. John Jeavons and Alan Chadwick, pioneers in this field, have demonstrated that it is possible to feed a family of four vegans with only 1/8 of an acre. Jeavons gives an in-depth review of his methods in his book, How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible On Less Land Than You Can Imagine (2006, Ten Speed Press).
Another reason for vegetarianism in our Ecotopian society is the plethora of health benefits such a diet offers. I’ve already written about these benefits back in September of last year. Since that time, health studies continue to compile evidence that vegetarianism is the way to go! Neal D. Barnard, M. D president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, says that "For people battling overweight and heart disease, a vegetarian diet can be a life-saving prescription."
Finally, the environmental impact of a vegetarian diet, when examined against the environmental impact of a carnivorous diet, comes out way ahead. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations formed the Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) to study the impact of the livestock industry on the environment. In 2007, a report entitled Livestock’s Long Shadow was released by this agency. Some of the findings of this report included:
- It takes up to 1000 pounds of water to produce one pound of beef
- Americans who eat meat are responsible for 1.5 more tons of carbon dioxide per year than those who don’t
- The beef industry is responsible for around 18% of greenhouse gas emissions
- Rapid deforestation of rain forests is largely due to the beef industry (grazing lands)
In spite of all of this, I know that there are those who won’t be able to give up meat-eating altogether. That doesn’t mean that those of you who won’t give up meat, can’t make an impact as well. For example, if everybody in North America skipped one hamburger per week, that’d reduce the world’s beef consumption by nearly 50 million pounds! Think about that the next time you’re at the drive-through…
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