First, there is a need for available land to allow for personal gardens. Suburban sprawl has encroached upon lush land suitable for growing. In today's workaholic lifestyle, many people are trading in acres of land for larger houses in order to simplify the maintenance "work." This ties into point number two, there is the need to make available the time to reconnect with nature again. Finding the joys in experimenting with "exotic" fruits/veggies, taking pride "that the work of (the) day measures more than the planting and growing." (J.P.Barlow).
Despite having thought about this question for quite a while... I can't pretend to have any answers.
The only thing I will draw attention to is that Steve's question... "how do we change the way we experience what we eat?"... may provide some insights in and of itself.
Too often, we are really too busy to EXPERIENCE what we eat at all. We eat what we eat because it's convenient, it's fast, it's absolutely necessary for continued functioning etc. A meal in which we actually sit, sip, sample is rare. More common is the run, chug and shove. Taking time to "experience food" is a luxury that I would suggest many people are no longer willing to indulge in and as a result, our standards for what is 'food', and more to Steve's point, what is 'good food' have dropped precipitously.
Cut our population down to about 2 million. Eliminate the need to concentration in areas by eliminating industry, so that the market is right where the people are. Live in places that support natural food production, so eliminate all but the handful that can live off bison in the plains.
If we could all just live on a farm again, that would do it. Oh, and lets import some people to do the work for us. It is really hard to grow all you need/want, and its much nicer to have someone do it for you.
I really think this would do wonders for the Earth. We can not only appreciate food more, but can eliminate global warming and pollution all in one. But really, we face a serious problem: even if we reduce our population, we should immediately start growing again.
Our only hope is to eliminate the human race. Really, its bound to happen sooner or later.
Our only hope is to eliminate the human race.
That would probably be for the best. We could always feed ourselves and our planet to Galactus. It'd probably be the most good we ever do for the universe.
Commenting by HaloScan
