When we think about food most people think grocery stores, super markets and even fast food restaurants. Why is that?? Cheap, packaged, mass produced... hormone filled, antibiotic rich, preservative abundant, corn derived, chemically altered, genetically engineered grocery store foods ARE NOT GOOD FOR YOU! Not only are they not good for you but lets not get started on the treatment of the animals at the massive factory farms which supply our local grocery stores with their meats, eggs and milk.
When I think food, I think AGRICULTURE, gardening and animals. Which in turn gets me thinking LOCAL and COMMUNITY in terms of farmers markets and local stands. Then on to SUSTAINABILITY and horticulture and then I move along to nature, outdoors, dirt, insects, heath, wellness, I could go on and on of my train of thought. If we asked our ancestors what they think about when we say "FOOD" what do you think they would say? I think they would say something along the lines of "gardening, trade, work, sustainability, and life".
Our desire for MORE has led us astray. Big corporations have made millions by sucking the life and nutrition out of food. People spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars on "food" each year. They purchase boxed meals, frozen prepared meals and very little fresh, local foods. Grocery store advertise LOCAL FOOD! Take a look at this "Local Food". Most often it has still travelled hundreds of miles to get to the grocery store. Our local stores say "Ontario Fresh" or "Canada Grown" and other such buzz. Take a closer look at the labels and see where this food comes from. Most often is it still from hundreds of miles away. I saw "Local Ontario Pears" from Jordan, Ontario which is approx 3.5hrs away and "Canadian Blueberries" from British Columbia! Now, we have blueberry fields locally but people will still purchase blueberries from B.C which is, by the most direct route , approx. 4000kms which translates into 40hrs of driving... 40HOURS!!!! Imagine the resources used in this distribution. The harvesting, packaging, transporting and then selling of the berries. Now think about this with regards to other things. Some coming from across the world... things we can grow and produce locally! They say most places in the world could be relatively self sufficient with regards to food. Imagine such a world; the resources saved!
Don't get me wrong, this is a start! Yet, it is nowhere even close to where we should be. Food should be truly fresh and local. This means produced within one hundred miles or so from your home. People often then ask "What about during the winter months?" What do we think our ancestors did??? They certainly didn't all live in the southern climates. What ever happened to natural, healthy food preservation such as canning and freezing? The cold cellars full of local and self produced foods are a way of the past??? NO! They are the way of the future! This sort of convenience first, the environment and self sufficiency last mindset is not healthy for people or the planet. We need to start thinking about the future of our children and our planet.
Can one even have any sort of food sustainability in an suburban residential area? Local bylaws are restricting raising livestock and poultry, growing vegetable gardens and even canning foods which may be classified as a Food Processing Plant. This is ridiculous! We live in a society which is being held captive with regards to our food choices and most people are totally unaware of it. So I pose the question, DO WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO FOOD? If you are part of the united nations... you do! Does the right to food simply mean you have a right to purchase food from the grocery store which the elected government (may not even be who YOU voted for) controls and regulates, regardless of our individual political, ethical and religious beliefs. If this is the case we DO NOT have the right to food. If we truly have a right to food, which I believe we do, then this in turn means that we have the right to grow and raise our own food! Towns and cities do not have the right to tell us we cannot produce our own food for our families. If I want to have chickens for eggs, goats for milk and a lush vegetable garden I CAN! As a Canadian Citizen I have the right to food!
Some evidence to this:
Our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states in section 7:
"Everyone had the right to life, liberty and security of person and the right to not be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice."
In 1982, a right to security of the person was added to the Constitution. It was included in section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Security of the person in section 7 consists of rights to privacy of the body and its health and of the right protecting the "psychological integrity" of an individual.
Also in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states in section 12:
"The States Parties to the present Covenant recognizes the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest standard of physical and mental health."
United Nations Economic and Social Council (COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL
AND CULTURAL RIGHTS) also has released this document outlining the right to adequate food and states :
"The right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement.",
"The Committee considers that the core content of the right to adequate food implies:
The availability of food in a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of individuals, free from adverse substances, and acceptable within a given culture;
The accessibility of such food in ways that are sustainable and that do not interfere with the enjoyment of other human rights."
and
"Free from adverse substances sets requirements for food safety and for a range of protective measures by both public and private means to prevent contamination of foodstuffs through adulteration and/or through bad environmental hygiene or inappropriate handling at different stages throughout the food chain; care must also be taken to identify and avoid or destroy naturally occurring toxins."
Then there is Canada's Action Plan for Food Security recognizes food as a basic human right stating:
Promotion of access to safe and nutritious food is seen as a critical component of food security.
Also, the Supreme Court recognizes the right of Aboriginal peoples to traditional food gatherings but not the rights of other Canadian citizens to raise and produce their own food. It is mind boggling!
This is not to say that Towns should not be able to regulate food laws. I do believe that they should be regulated and reasonable. Lets face it, some people can get out of control with things. Having 50 chickens, 4 goats, 4 bee hives and a cow on 1/4-1/2 an acre is not reasonable let alone fair to the animals. Regulations are necessary, but must be reasonable! To tell us we can't is not reasonable or just.
Now lets look into why there are laws that restrict us from growing and producing our own food? The answer is not what most people think. It has NOTHING to do with health and the good of the people. Instead it is an old view based on Class and status! (suburb info found here p.5)
When the modern Suburbs were being developed, it was during a time where people wanted to define themselves. The rural communities and farming communities were seen as unfashionable. Those who sought to live in the suburbs were not wealthy enough to live in the cosmopolitan areas but did not want to be associated with the rural farming communities. Thus, the Suburbs were born! You may notice that most suburban areas have no sidewalks. This was due to the sidewalk being associated with the lower class citizens who were unable to afford vehicles (why would you walk when you could afford a car?). The keeping of livestock and food producing crops were seen as unfashionable and lower class as well. The problem was not that livestock was a health risk or a nuisance but that it was not modern, cosmopolitan and sophisticated.
In conclusion, let me just say that urban farming, including urban livestock, is the way of the past and the way of the future. We need to look past our noses and see the reality of our current food situation. Our food habits are major contributors to our growing obesity rate, increasing negative environmental impact.
The time for change is NOW!
Peace.
