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a critical mind is as essential as a critical palate |
sustainable: to meet the needs of the present without negatively affecting the ability of future generations to do the same. A system that is resilient and able to adapt creatively to disruption. gastronomy: the law of the stomach (from gaster, the Greek word for stomach, and nomos, meaning law.) This website is a work of art in progress. It is a creative and intellectual space to explore and disseminate the concept of sustainable gastronomy. This theory offers new philosophical and practical approaches to developing sustainable, resilient and ethical food systems. The site is still in its infancy and future plans include readings lists, online discussion forums, and support materials to help others develop sustainable gastronomy in their own regions. Contact me if after touring the site you have any requests or ideas. |
New!Food Security Blog.
Great articles from the Times Colonist, Toronto Star, and Monday Magazine |
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Why Food is an Environmental and Sustainability Issue?Food production, processing, marketing, and distribution is tied to global warming, pollution, capitalist food production motivation, loss of biodiversity, human health, obesity, urban growth, human rights, economic and food security, ethics and biotechnology, and corporate control of essential human needs and services. >> learn more (PDF, 32 KB) |
Food for Thought...
Food fuels our bodies. It fuels our actions, thoughts, and passions. It is the most mundane and yet sacred element in the world.
The integrity of our food is critical to experiencing life on this planet; and yet modern methods of food production have dramatically impacted the nutritional and ethical integrity of this fuel. Modern food production models are highly effective for producing mass amounts of food; however by making cost the primary factor in developing these production models, tremendous damage has being wrought on human health, ecological health and community and social health. Cost is a critical factor in food production and should be respected in developing food system models. However, the importance of the bottom line over ethical treatment of farmers, food producers, the natural environment and the integrity of food products has created a large scale food crisis around the world.
A food crisis is more than just a lack of food. It can also be defined as an over abundance of food whose production methods have secondary impacts whose costs are not included in the price of food. For example, nutritionally corrupt food leading to human health crisis and rising associated medical costs; or, ecological damage to soil and water tables requiring expensive environmental restoration programs. Because of the integral nature of food in human survival, a food crisis will have impacts across the social, cultural, economic and political spectrum. Instead of viewing this breadth of impact as a detriment; sustainable gastronomy looks to use this breadth as a means of developing effective long range sustainable food policy and programs for regional and global food system health. Sustainable Gastronomy is an attempt to address issues of human food production from a positive, creative, and solution oriented perspective. It looks to work with the existing economic and political systems (regionally and internationally) to inject new values of social justice, food integrity and system sustainability. Instead of finding new answers, sustainable gastronomy is asking new questions, most importantly:
1. what are the natures of the human relationships to food; and
2. how that they influenced the current system; and
3. how can they be used to improve that system to more ecologically, economically
and culturally sustainable ends.
>> To learn more check out food governance and culinary restoration
Photo Credits: Poor Farmers Lose Chance In Export Markets from www.iran-daily.com