food for thought

I spent much of yesterday at the Brooklyn Food Conference in Park Slope. This was an event that I'd been looking forward to for some time, and it was fantastic. According to the New York Times, there may have been as many as three thousand people in attendance, and this gives credence to the credibility and momentum that the sustainable food movement is gaining. Food is a big issue, and one that I am spending an increasing amount of energy thinking about. We need to demand a food system that is environmentally sustainable, healthy and just. The unfortunate reality is that we have nothing of the sort right now. The wide variety of people showing interest in this issue gives much reason for hope.

I really enjoyed attending a workshop about milk, which had a panel consisting of an expert in the history of milk, a raw (unpasteurized) milk advocate, and some farmers. The woman from the raw milk advocacy group seemed blinded by bias, and betrayed little understanding of basic statistics. This, coupled with her unwillingness to consider challenges to her generally unsupported claims, unfortunately detracted from any credibility in her perspective. The other panelists, however, were quite good and I have actually decided to start drinking milk from local farms where the cows are predominantly grass-fed. The consensus also seemed to be that while milk is very good for you, it is not necessary in the way that many of us in North America have been led to believe. Another fact that surprised me was the uniform claim from the panelists that whole milk is healthier than skimmed milk. Nevertheless, I think I'll keep drinking skim, because whole milk is just too thick for me to drink!

Another great panel was "Race and the Food System," in which the panelists talked about the lack of access to healthy food in minority communities, and the epidemic of health problems that result from this. It was encouraging to see that there are concrete steps being taken at the grassroots level in New York to address these disparities. Karen Washington spoke about her experiences bringing a farmer's market to her community in the Bronx, and Bob Law was extremely eloquent, thoughtful and direct in linking the food system to broader issues of social justice. One idea of his that has really had me thinking is that our system of social support is focused on normalizing poverty and making (disproportionately minority) people comfortable with it. Instead, we should be focussed on programs that bring people out of poverty.

All in all, a wonderful day. I was encouraged by the number of people who seem committed to reforming our food systems, and really benefited from hearing quality discourse on important issues.