The
underlying issue of this whole foie gras debate is really the evils
of industrialized food production. Just as it is not less cruel
to eat veal as it is to eat steak, professing a love for fatty liver
makes you no more damned than those who pick factory-end chicken
over free-range poultry when doing their supermarketing.
Industrialized food production was said to be the
key to feeding a booming world population. However, we have not
seen a decline in the number of people suffering from hunger around
the globe. And while the initial problem remains unsolved, we now
see a new problem: according to University of North Carolina professor
Barry Popkin, who reported his findings to the International Association
of Agricultural Economists, the number of overweight people has
now surpassed the number of starving people worldwide.
In a sense, our problem now is not hunger. Our problem
is greed. The greed of those who want more and can pay for it; the
greed of corporations who want more of your money and can get more
of it.
Industrialization has also seen the popularization
of uninspiring foods produced en masse for mindless consumption,
and the demise of exclusive artisanal gourmet items crafted for
enjoyment. Not only have a huge proportion of city-dwellers lost
their sense of where food comes from (ultimately nature, and not
a factory), they have also lost the ability to appreciate the effort
that is put into what we call "slow food" these days.
The solution is not to ban foods produced by inhumane
industrialized methods, because there is no supply without demand.
The root of the problem is our constant demand for more, now. How
many artisan farmers are there in Kobe still patiently massaging
their tiny herd of five kuroge wagyu? And how many ranches are there
in Australia and America, breeding monster herds of wagyu cattle?
How many Norwegian families are still using artisanal salting and
smoking techniques to treat herrings, as compared to factories that
can churn out more, and at a lower cost?
Our solution to the problem is not just to find ways
and means to make sustainable agriculture economically viable so
that those who need the food can be fed, and those who are just
plain greedy will not find themselves on the highway to obesity.
Our solution is also to re-educate the consumer's perceptions of
food. It has become so easily accessible and affordable to the privileged
masses that it is no longer appreciated for providing us with sustenance,
and for giving us the pleasure of eating.
Only when we know where our foods come from, how they
were created, and how they came to our plates, can we truly appreciate
food. And only then will the value of artisanal food production
be cherished - because food really is not something to be had when
you are bored. So I say: Shut up. Eat your food and be thankful.
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