Unfortunately, food does not grow in my fridge and I
don't have enough space in my room to raise a nice cow so she can
give me milk and wonderful cheeeese! No, food is grown, picked,
cooked, packed, transported, sold, re-cooked by a whole bunch of
people so you and I can slap it in the microwave and finally eat it.
This is called the food-processing industry and it has come a long
way over the decades... After the War, to avoid starvation and
hunger, farmers were encouraged to produce in an industrial way; in
Europe, we reached food security quickly. This meant, however, that
we had to use tons of pesticides and herbicides and artificial
fertilisers (not good for Mother Nature, as you know!).
As this
productivist system was very successful, the price for food then
became the real issue. Indeed, during the golden years of mass
consumption in the 70s and 80s, as supermarkets became ever-bigger,
the goal for consumers was to have always-cheaper food (in 1960, food
was 35% of the household budget, today it is down to about 10%
in the USA!). Producing and consuming a lot more food at a lot lower
price did become possible, but it has come at a cost: pollution!
Pollution is caused by agriculture, the agrochemical industry and the
food-processing industry. It is also caused by our wasteful eating
habits. The impact on biodiversity, the climate, and our health has
been catastrophic!
At a world scale,
intensive agricultural methods have dried and salinized soils,
deforested vast areas, and increased greenhouse gas emissions. The
mass use of pesticides is incredibly alarming; the whole planet is
infected. Pesticides have been found in ice floe 8000
meters deep. In Clermont-Ferrand, pesticides have been found in 71
out of the 72 water catchments. In France, there is an average 6
different pesticides in the hair of a 10-year-old child. Pesticides
are in our food, our water, our bodies and all over our planet. These
pesticides are the cause of many diseases and of the disappearance of
so many flowers, insects, birds, and many other animals in towns and
country. When I was a little kid, I was always annoyed by the bees
feeding on my piece of melon during summer picnics. I didn't know
that 15 years later I would be way more annoyed by the fact of almost
never seeing a bee anymore! Especially when you know that they are
essential to the lives of so many other species and for our crops.
The terrible consequences of pesticide use have been proven by the
scientists from the UN's Food and Agricuture Organisation and from
the INRA (Institut National de Recherche Agricole).
Today, organic production
is on the rise. In 2018, there was a 17% increase in farm surfaces
using organic methods compared to 2017. Organic food sales in 2015
were about 6 billion euros; today, it is almost 10 billion euros.
This kind of growth means organic agriculture is in demand. Even if
it represents only 5% of French food consumption, the food processing
industry is starting to think really hard about organic food. It also
leads farmers to make the effort to turn to organic food production,
and it leads politicians to vote laws against pesticides. It even
leads supermarkets to sell it and large food companies to use it in
their processed foods (on that point, we have to be very careful
because industrial food companies always aim for bigger profit
margins, usually to the detriment of the environment; so, "organic"
in that context does not necessarily mean small-scale production...).
Organic
production has to come out of a real will to save the planet.
"Organic" tomatoes grown during the winter thanks to
fuel-heated greenhouses thousands of kilometers away are not, surely,
truely organic?! That is why it is so important to
eat locally produced organic food.
It avoids the environmental cost of transport, of course, but it also
makes it easier for you to check if the farmer who grew your food is
as concerned as you are about climate change. Isn't it great to know
the person who produced what you eat and how they made it? It is not
hard to just use a search engine and find the nearest farmers' market
or local produce shop in town; there are plenty of them everywhere
now! By doing that, you'll also enable a local farmer to live
decently from his work (most farmers struggle to survive, getting
only 10% of the price of a transformed product sold in a
supermarket!).
Changing the whole
food-processing industry is not directly in our hands, but, believe
me, we have greater power than you might think. Because we, young
Europeans, know what producing non-organic and non-local food does to
our planet and to our well-being, we have one simple thing to do: to
buy only organic and locally-produced food!
All well and good, but what about the tree that hides the forest, Mr. Forest?! I am talking about COST of local and organic food! What do you say to a person who earns a minimum wage or who lives below the breadline? A kilo of organic tomatoes (from Spain): 6,95 euros per kilo! Flour at twice the price of an ordinary flour. A fancy loaf of organic locally-made bread at nearly 5 euros! Sorry, but poor people (students!) have no choice but to buy poor-quality food. Do you have a solution to this problem?!
ReplyDeleteHello, Tom,
ReplyDeleteAs you said well, organic farming corresponds to a label, with a set of specifications. And although there may be an ethic behind this agriculture, it is based above all on the fact that it does not use GMOs or synthetic chemicals. If fertilizers are used, they must be of organic origin and for breeding, there is a greater consideration of animal welfare (defined quite arbitrarily…). However, if there is just a few organic farming today and the use of pesticides in France continues to increase (which calls into question the political will to decrease this usage you are talking about...), it is because the whole system is not adapted to THE change. Intensive crop MUST protect itself from pests and while there are many alternative solutions, the organization of actors upstream and downstream of production prevents the spread of these solutions. Economically, the cost of collecting and sorting cultivated species is adapted to regional specialization (and therefore difficult for localism...). Socially, it is more risky not to treat when it is necessary rather than treating when it is not necessary. As a matter of habit, the solution “1 problem = 1 adapted chemical” is easier. Culturally, we seek to have a high yield and therefore an intensive production (which is not always true and in any case not in the long term, but often believed...). The norm and rule want for "beautiful" products, etc... It is certain that farmers are not the only ones responsible for this lack of change in practices. But it is also certain that continuing to shop in supermarkets makes us responsible for it! So you have to go shopping at the local market and garden yourself :-)
Théo SABATIER writes: I agree with you, Tom, on the fact that industrial production manages to produce huge quantities in a short time but that it pollutes a lot which is why it's better to produce organic. I have a garden and of course never use fertilizers or pesticides; my fruit and vegetables taste so much better than the supermarket produce and, of course, the cost is low and I do not pollute my environment. I think it should be a fundamental right for everyone to own a patch of land; do you agree?
ReplyDeleteHélèna BAUDOIN writes: I'm not a particular fan of organic produce and products, especially those from far away countries (like fruit from Chile). The rules that the European Union has on products/agriculture are relatively good even though they were written 20 years ago (the European Commission has set up new rules which will come into force from 1 January 2021). But these rules are applied differently from one country to another; a product from Chile labelled “organic” in Germany will not necessarily be considered as such in France. This, as Tom says, is mainly based on how dangerous pesticides are considered (the Germans are more lenient than the French in this regard).
ReplyDeleteAs far as local products are concerned, I prefer to see my family buy meat from a local farmer rather than from ultra-productive farms; the extra cost is worth it from a health point of view (that of the cattle as well as our own).
It is our whole way of eating and our relationship with the animals and the land that we have to change. But, eating habits are notoriously difficult to change... cf. https://time.com/8515/what-the-world-eats-hungry-planet/
Maximilien BIDET writes: I agree with your idea of changing the whole food processing industry, Tom, but do you think that people are ready to buy better products at a more expensive price? You mention that, in France, there has been a 17% increase in farms using organic methods and a 5% rise in organic food consumption. Do you think the popularity of organic food will continue to increase? Will poor people have to continue to eat food laced with pesticides all their lives?
ReplyDeleteHello Tom, I’m Mali and I also gave a video-talk at the EDYF. Your speech about organic local food is really interesting. With your examples, and what you say about the overuse of pesticides and the quantity found in a 10-year-old child’s hair, and all the bad effects on biodiversity and the environment, you shock us into realizing how bad the processed food industry is. You also say that products that are made in our country are not truly organic because they’re not grown at the right time of year (tomatoes in winter for example). We have to understand that we don’t just have to buy local products but also at the right time of the year. But, you give us hope because you mention the fact that organic production is on the rise and this encourages us to help our local farmers.
ReplyDeleteTo eliminate the use of pesticides we can use insects (these can actually be bought in shops or over the internet). For example, ladybugs are the natural predators of aphids. What do you think of this idea?
Paula KAUFFELD writes: On some points I agree with Tom and on other points I don't. When he says that we should only buy organic food, it is pratically impossible so I don't agree with that. Not every type of food is available as organic food in every market. Firstly, some times you will have to go way farther away to get some. Also, organic food is more expensive than non organic food. Not everyone can afford it. Families or students who don't have a lot of money can't afford it. But I agree with Tom on the point that we should encourage the purchase of organic food. It is indeed better for the environment not to use pesticides. Pesticides are also bad for our health. For example, if someone lives near a field where pesticides are used, they can get health problems such as respiratory problems and cancers. Pesticides affect everything around them. There are some pesticides that are natural and not harmful for the planet, like garlic insecticide spray, chile pepper insecticide spray, and neem oil insectide. This can be made and used at home. People that use chemical pesticides at home can replace them with natural ones. It would be way better for Nature and for us!
ReplyDeleteMalaurie WAHL writes: Tom, I agree that we need to change our habits about food. However, I think it’s really difficult to do so. Organic food is expensive and so not everyone can afford it. If mocal organic food were cheaper, then surely more people would buy it. Also, exportation and importation of food is massive; it is going to be dificult to change that system. Not all products can be made in France. However, we should reduce our consumption of agro-industrial products; that would be a good start.
ReplyDeleteMaxime BOISMENU writes: I think the majority of the problems you raise, Tom, are related to people's education and values: we want food to be ever cheaper! I think people must accept that they need a real budget for food and people must learn to eat healthier products, that are local and organic. I am not saying that we are poorly educated, but we are slow to change our eating habits and we are not sufficiently aware of the ecological impact of food production (more CO²).
ReplyDeleteAs you say, pesticides are the cause of numerous illnesses and many ecological problems. Pesticides found 8000 meters deep in the pack ice? We should be very worried... But, by simply going to our local farmers' market would be a real eco-friendly step! The produce is generally fresher than at the supermarket, and (if you choose organic) it's pesticide free and so better for your health.
Often, when we talk about “ecology”, we think that, at our level, it is pointless to try to do anything (climate action, etc.), but in the case of food consumption, it is really easy and effective to get into the simple habit of buying good-quality local products. Certainly the prices are a little higher, but good food is worth the extra cost in my opinion. And supermarkets are now bringing the prices down on these products (as demand rises). We can also go directly to the producers and the prices will be much lower (or at least the producer will get a decent income from selling his products by cutting out the middle man, i.e. the supermarkets).
I think it's time to make real change, together we can do it! Let's start with the simple things: recycling, only using the car when really necessary, buying mostly local products, etc. We must do everything to lower pollution, for our health and that of Mother Nature.