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| Sustainability gave way to allure and expansion |
Think of it this way, to better understand the injustices in women's health, we could look to anthropologists; or to get a better look at understanding the spread of chronic disease we could gain from an economist. Using different disciplines to understand our problems or circumstances gives us strength to develop solutions that will work. Can you gain better appreciation for the U.S. by visiting another country? Sure.
As we turn our focus to food and its obstacles it creates, a question should be posed. If the food you eat defined your lifestyle, what would it say? Could the way we eat, when we eat and what we eat define us as a person; furthermore could it define our society as a whole? Could food misrepresent us, in such a way that it masks who we really are? These questions though more abstract than not, do lend to the idea that food isn't just fuel for the body. Food might just be a living, breathing thing that accompanies us on life's journey.
Can food and sustainability have any real reason or merit for being discussed together? If so, how? Andrew Ross recently wrote a book called, Bird On Fire and while reading this book, I am finding that sustainability is very much the type of conversations we need to be having regarding food. When we talk about "dieting" and "food plans" we need to ask, Is this sustainable? To take that idea a step further, what would be the affects of sustaining such a regimen? These questions are deeply important.
In a research article published in 2007, Dr. Elfhag and Dr. Morey, wrote about eating behaviors (excellent paper). One comment made is that poor self image, and low self discipline played towards poor eating habits. Thus, dieting or healthy eating could not be sustainable in these populations due to emotional distress or inhibitions. We would first find how to sustain our emotional well-being, then work to create sustainable dietary changes.
What can we keep doing? This is sustainability at its foundation, the sustainability must of course be to our betterment. The rhetoric in Andrew Ross' book talks to the history of Phoenix and how previous cultures and civilizations fell to unsustainable conditions and thus no longer exist. Can we learn from their example? Absolutely, our diets or eating habits can bring about negative impacts in our lives, and unforeseen misfortunes can and often will befall us. Understanding the complexities of food and having a broad knowledge of types of foods and how to access them, can create more sustainable lifestyles for us.
There are three points of food sustainability we can tie into our lives. (1) Food "Technology", are the foods we're eating surpassing our needs or lifestyle? In the book, civilizations fell due to their limited technology, which was unable to support the changes they would face. Does our bodies utilize the resources we give it? Are we eating to sustain the life we currently live, or the one we hope to live soon, or neither? (2) Food "Resplendency", Do we really know what we're eating? Or are we being consumed ourselves by what poor food does to us? Shiny wrappers, salty splendor, sweet escapes and fat fancy drives us to consume what could be harmful. Lastly, (3) Food Brilliance, the canals used even today in Phoenix to irrigate this desert land were made thousands of years ago by a civilization that fell to lack of sustainability. However, the message is that wisdom supersedes all. What worked in the past can work now and in the future. Wisdom in how we eat is simple, stay natural, keep color and be informed on how these foods work.
In closing, sustainability and food are complementary of one another. If we understand how to sustain proper eating habits, then we can become healthier, stronger, and also inspire someone else to do the same.
"Regimen is superior to medicine" - Voltaire
