Mackey/Pollan Debate: New Light

[Devotay]

My friend Chris Bedford wrote this on the ComFood listserv, and it was so good I had to share.

I couldn't find a word I disagreed with.

Also, be sure to check out his Sweetwater Local Foods Market (at the end). Second one he's built (the first is in Sioux City)

Comfoodies,

I have been following the Michael Pollan/John Mackey exchange with some interest. There are some issues raised in the letters that cut to the heart of some challenges before us.

John Mackey wrote in his response to Michael Pollan,

“When is a farm too large to considered ‘small?’ How far can food be transported before it is no longer considered ‘local?’ How much machinery is a farm allowed to use before it becomes ‘industrial’ (and therefore no longer ‘good’)?”

These thoughts, written by Mackey or his surrogate, reveal a fundamental misunderstanding (best) or a calculated misdirection (worse) of what is at stake in the “local and organic” question.

I want to review some of his misconceptions because in many places in this nation, discussion about the future of the local food system often includes notion of a “Whole Foods” type of store. Many consumers want a different kind of food supply and Whole Foods appears to offer a new vision.

First, Mackey thinks “industrial” refers to machinery – its size and scale of use in agriculture. He doesn’t appear to understand that “industrial” actually describes farming’s relationship to nature.

Industrial food production involves, “standardization” of crops and animals through genetics, “specialization” of production which is often called monoculture agriculture, “concentration” of production to achieve so-called economies of scale, and the use of man-made inputs to speed up and make more “efficient” the raising of crops and animals.

Industrial food production has virtually nothing to do with machinery.
It deals with the use of industrial techniques and approaches to overcome Nature and her processes, to make them more predictable and thus reducing investor/producer risk.

Industrial food production is predicated on the incredibly stupid assumption that humankind is somehow exempt from the laws of Nature and that, anyway, our massive use of non-renewable resources and wholesale destruction diversity and species in what Wendell Berry calls, “the used landscape” can deal with whatever challenges Nature hands us.

This idea of “dominion” over Nature – implicit in some of the animal rights ideas that seem to have profoundly moved Mackey to veganism – is a fundamental flaw that threatens our collective future.

The kind of local, organic food system the farmers and consumers I work with seek to build is one built on the idea of “harmony” and “balance” with Nature and her processes. This new local, organic food system is built on the understanding that…

…we can only thrive as humans in a living world that is also thriving,
…healthy food begins with healthy soil that alive with beneficial life,
…sustainability is about energy flows built around solar energy.
…humane raising of animals is a critical component of soil health.

Any farmer engaged in raising plants and animals in ways that respect Nature’s rules, systems, and complexities is, by necessity, pretty humble. The idea of “dominion” is a fantasy when confronted with the reality of the living world we are part of.

Mackey displays none of this humbleness. He has the power to lift the income of farmers in Argentina, China, the central valley of California regardless of fuel/energy costs, regardless of the demands of real sustainability. Underlying his words is the idea “if brute force isn’t working, you aren’t using enough of it,” that characterizes the global economy particularly as it relates to food production.

The global food system is biologically, economically, and environmentally unsustainable. Because Mackey doesn’t appear to understand the connection to Nature, he thinks “local” is just another branding distinction, as opposed to an ecological distinction involving bioregions and foodsheds.

This discussion could go on for much longer.

So I want to end by saying to John Mackey that what we should be building is “an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable food system.”
That is, by definition, “native to the place” where we live. It is a food system that acknowledges and builds on seasonal, lunar, and other cycles.

It is a food system that minimizes use of fossil fuels and maximizes the use of solar energy.

Whole Foods is a brilliant branding of the ideas of sustainability without actually being sustainable.

How is a Whole Foods selling organic food from around the world in a store surrounded by an asphalt parking lot filled with cars that traveled dozens of miles to get there any different from a Wal-Mart selling organic food from around the world in a store surrounded by an asphalt parking lot filled with cars that traveled dozens of miles to get there?

They are a growing corporation built on clever packaging and an ecological foundation that is the equivalent of sinking sand.

Whole Foods has many other problems with regards to efficiencies demanded by Wall Street and the treatment of their employees. But those are for another post.

I watched Davis Guggenheim’s film about Al Gore and Global Warming last night. “An Inconvenient Truth” presents a picture of what our dominion over Nature is really about. We are about to reap the consequences of our arrogance.

We need to revolutionize our food system – making it overwhelmingly but not totally local (I still want to drink coffee from Central America, if possible), small scale and diverse and near to our centers of population.

Whole Foods, as presently led by Mackey and his partners, is compounding our problems by continuing support for unsustainable food production while assuring their customers that everything is alright.

Our future depends not on marketing labels and clever branding.
Our future, to the extent we have one, is about returning to a life that respects Nature.

My thoughts.
Peace and good food,

Chris

Christopher B. Bedford
President
Sweetwater Local Foods Market
#6543 Hancock Road
Montague, MI 49437
231-893-3937 (o)
231-670-4817 (c)
chrisbedford@charter.net

The Sweetwater Local Foods Market is Michigan's FIRST Farmers Market Michigan's first farmers market to exclusively sell locally grown animal products, fruits and vegetables raised in a manner that enhances biological diversity in harmony with biological cycles, builds soil health and promotes animal welfare, and fosters human and environmental health. Sweetwater operates two markets.

SATURDAYs 9am-1pm
The market is located In the overflow parking lot of Great Lakes Downs at the corner of Ellis and Harvey Roads - 1/4 mile down from the new Meijers on Harvey near the Lake Shore Mall.

WEDNESDAYs 3pm-6pm
A second farmers market will begin July 5th in the parking lot of Hackley Health at the Lakes on Harvey Road just off the Pontaluna/Fruitport Exit on Route 31 in Norton Shores.

[chrose]

Interesting, very interesting. I will admit that I was ignorant to the whole John Mackey/Whole foods situation. But I would tend to agree with Chris on what he says. I personally have never been a big organic or "green" fella, not because I was against it but mostly because I was unaware of it. Most of my experience was limited to the Organic section in the grocery store. Seeing that the fruits and veggies were generally undersized as compared to the "industrialized" farms I didn't think much of it. Since then I have met and talked with John Evans of Alaska Bountea, read John Jeavons books and am now studying ofr a LEED's exam from the US Green Building Council. So this stuff is starting to make more sense. While it does seem necessary to industrialize farming to be able to feed the ever growing population, we are also destroying earths ability to produce "anything" with these methods. Unless we stop and think about what we are doing. It's a tough situation, but it really is true and I have seen it in my own garden that if we take care of the earth it will be able to take care of all of us, but simply using it up without concern of where we're heading will benefit no one.
Just moho.

[shroomgirl]

While it does seem necessary to industrialize farming to be able to feed the ever growing population,

Nope, look at what happened in Cuba when the Soviets left them high and dry. Cubans started backyard gardening with pigs/chickens etc. and have a burgeoning economy based on grassroots food productions.
I trully believe we do not need industrialized farming to feed the world....waste reduction would be FIRST on the list.....think of how much is thrown away. Instead of composting or feeding the poor. Massive quantities every day from grocery stores, restaurants, catering etc......
I've gotta work or I'd type more.
Good article thanks for sharing.

[chrose]

Originally Posted by chrose

While it does seem necessary to industrialize farming to be able to feed the ever growing population,

Originally Posted by chrose

we are also destroying earths ability to produce "anything" with these methods. Unless we stop and think about what we are doing. It's a tough situation, but it really is true and I have seen it in my own garden that if we take care of the earth it will be able to take care of all of us, but simply using it up without concern of where we're heading will benefit no one.
Just moho.

You forgot the most important part of my statement. I am agreeing with you. Perhaps I should have mentioned that what I meant by "seems" relates to the general population who are not familiar as to what sustainability and, or organic really means to our survival.