NATURAL PERSPECTIVES:Food and fuel use produce large environmental costs

Vic and I recently watched a couple of thought-provoking on the Sundance Channel: “Crude Awakening” and “Our Daily Bread.”

“Crude Awakening” dealt with the looming oil crisis. Oil is a fossil fuel that was created many millions of years ago. When we use it up, it will be gone forever. Given how heavily our society has come to depend on oil, the inevitable loss of this nonrenewable resource will cause a society-wrenching crisis.

Estimates of how much oil remains to be sucked out of the earth vary from about 50 to 80 years’ worth. How long the oil will last depends in part on how much is used by rapidly developing countries like China and India as they strive to emulate our lifestyle; part depends on how much we can conserve by switching to hybrid-engine cars or natural gas vehicles, or how much renewable bio-fuels such as ethanol can substitute for fossil fuel.

“Our Daily Bread,” a presented a sobering view of today’s huge agribusinesses. The film showed the production, slaughter and processing of meat animals.

We’re not strict vegetarians, but we do eat a lot of meatless meals. We do this for environmental reasons, not because we’re morally opposed to using animals for food. But this film gave us pause for thought. My images of farm life are based on childhood trips to a cousin’s family farm in Indiana. As “Our Daily Bread” so graphically showed, modern agribusiness is nothing like that.

Actually, the slaughter of the chickens, cows and hogs seemed humane. The shock to us was that the animals were treated like inanimate objects in these giant mechanized farm factories. The sight of sows squeezed into narrow cages and held down with bars so their piglets could nurse was more distressing to me than the images of cattle being killed with bolt guns.

Baby chicks were tossed onto fast-moving conveyor belts and shot into boxes like so many tennis balls. Laying hens lived in tiers of cages too small for them. Masses of adult chickens were swept off the floor of their coop by a giant vacuum cleaner-like device and stuffed into cramped boxes headed for the slaughterhouse.

Modern meat processing is a super-efficient, assembly-line process, with mechanical robots doing much of the cutting, gutting and cleaning of carcasses. But even with such cost-cutting measures, food prices are rising.

The cost of food is closely tied to the cost of energy. It takes gasoline and diesel to run tractors and trucks, and it takes electricity to operate the giant factories where our food is processed. The cost of food is also linked to environmental disasters that wipe out crops.

An article in last week’s Los Angeles Times reported that food prices in Southern California are increasing at their highest rate in years, up 5.7% for the first quarter of 2007 compared to last year. The world’s reserves of oil are dwindling, and gas prices are racing ever higher. Now couple this with global climate change. Don’t expect food prices to go back down.

The only good news in our story is that taking an environmental approach to eating can save money. Meat is one of the most expensive parts of the food budget. Eating a vegetarian diet saves money and is good for the planet because it takes less grain to feed a person than to produce meat.

If you’re like us and enjoy meat and animal products but are concerned about the welfare of the animals, you do have the option of buying organic milk and cage-free eggs. We buy Niman Ranch brand pork products because the company buys pigs that were raised humanely on family farms. I wouldn’t feel good buying pork from one of those giant agribusiness farms that clamped the sows onto the floor of a tiny cage.

Another smart buy is grass-fed beef. Cattle that graze in fields versus those raised on expensive grain in feedlots require less pesticide and take less energy to produce. The meat is cheaper and may be better for you, too. Grass-fed beef has even less fat and cholesterol than skinless chicken thighs. We get our grass-fed beef steaks and Niman Ranch bacon and pork from Trader Joe’s.

Rising gas prices and concomitantly rising food prices are a sad fact of our future. But that doesn’t mean that we have to stop living well. Buying in bulk saves money and saves on packaging. Substituting tap water for bottled water or soda also saves money and helps the environment. If you look for fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season and grown relatively locally, you’ll save money over exotic produce flown in from South America. Try growing some of your own fruits and vegetables in your yard. And if you cook even a few vegetarian meals a week, you’ll save money. The farmer’s market downtown, Trader Joe’s and Wild Oats Market are good places to find organic foods.

We’re curious where people stand on these issues. Post your beliefs about a vegetarian diet and organic produce on hbindependent.com under our column, or send us an e-mail. Bon appetit.