Provision #492: Planetary Predicaments

by Bob Tschannen-Moran

LifeTrek Laser Provision

If you were looking for a light, entertaining read then stop here and go no further. This Provision looks at wellness from a planetary perspective, and there are many indications that we are not doing any better on that level than on the level of individual health and wellness. Global politics, conflicts, climate changes, and agricultures are all conspiring to erode the quality of life on planet earth. This Provision documents that erosion and offers one small step in the right direction: co-producing (rather than just consuming) our food.

LifeTrek Provision

On Wednesday, December 13, 2006, I attended a briefing on the situation in Iraq and the Middle East by someone who should know what's going on: Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as Chief of Staff for Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2002-2005 and who served, prior to that, for more than 30 years in the U.S. Army. Here is my interpretation of his scary and sobering remarks:

• The USA will withdraw its forces from Iraq into defensible bases from which it can commence more tactical training and support of indigenous forces.
• The situation in Iraq will continue to deteriorate until it spills over into other countries and becomes a wider, regional conflict.
• The likelihood of another catastrophe that disastrously impacts US sovereignty and/or strategic interests, such as 9/11, is high.
• The above factors will lead to an escalation of the Middle East conflict, requiring 2-3 million US armed forces throughout the entire region.
• The armed forces of the USA are in no way prepared for this escalation. They lack the necessary personnel, infrastructure, and budget.
• The USA will seek to bring back the draft and to levy more taxes in order to accommodate the burdens of war.
• The balance of power is shifting in the world to those who control the world's debt.
• The USA, the world's largest debtor nation, may soon find itself at the mercy of countries, like Russia, who are flush in petrol-dollars.

• The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.
• Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level.
• The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade.
• At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles.

• Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years -- to 300,000 people a year.
• Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide.
• Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense.
• Droughts and wildfires will occur more often.
• The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.
• More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050.

• Nearly one fifth of the USA's petroleum consumption goes to producing and transporting our food.
• To grow a single steer to slaughter weight in an industrial feedlot takes approximately one barrel of oil (turning that steer into just what we need: another fossil-fuel machine -- only this time it's a machine that can suffer).
• It takes between 7 to 10 calories of fossil fuel energy to deliver one calorie of food energy to an American plate. Talk about unsustainable!
• It takes three times more fossil fuels to grow conventional foods than organic ones, as long as the compost is local (after that, the energy requirements of conventional and organic foods are about the same to package, process, store, and deliver).
• From farm to plate, food in the USA travels an estimated 1,500 to 2,500 miles (25% further than in 1980).
• Worldwide, conventional farming uses about three million tons of chemicals, most of which are derived from fossil fuels, each and every year. In addition to the fossil fuel concern, these chemicals have many other far-reaching and long-lasting environmental impacts.

• LocalHarvest.org. This is a great resource for people in the USA who want to locate nearby CSA farms, farmers' markets, grocery stores, restaurants, and other establishments that support local agriculture. Once you find one resource in your area, they will help you find others. Just ask! It's a fast-growing community. In 2006, there were 4,385 farmers' markets on record with the National Farmers Market Directory Click; that's 2.5 times the number in 1994.
• 100MileDiet.org. This site, which includes a free email newsletter, was started by a couple in Vancouver, British Columbia who decided in the spring of 2005 to eat only food grown within 100 miles of their apartment for a period of one year. That proved to be quite a challenge even as it launched their personal claim to fame (and is, of course, leading to a book). For starters, they recommend trying to eat a 100-mile meal, a 100-mile day, or a 100-mile week. Every little bit helps.
• FoodRoutes.org. Similar to Local Harvest, Food Routes is a "national nonprofit organization that provides communications tools, technical support, networking and information resources to organizations nationwide that are working to rebuild local, community-based food systems." I love their simple challenge: spend $10 per week on locally produced food. Now that we can do.
• EatLocalChallenge.com. This site is "a group blog written by authors who are interested in the benefits of eating food grown and produced in their local foodshed." It's a vibrant site with lots of great material and resources. I especially enjoyed the report on a recent Michael Pollan speech Click. Quotable quote: "Americans ship sugar cookies to the Danes and the Danes ship sugar cookies to Americans. Wouldn't it be cheaper if we just swapped recipes?"
• SlowFood.com. Although slow food does not limit itself to local food sources, it's emphasis on enjoying the flavors and savors of regional cooking has that effect. They also make a clear statement that slow-food people are co-producers, rather than just consumers, of the foods we eat. The more we know about and participate in how our food is produced, the better choices we will make both on our own behalf and on behalf of the planet. It costs $60 per year to join the movement and to subscribe to the magazine in the service of local foods and food traditions.