The Standard American Diet 2

This is part 3 of my research on global food movements, entitled
GLOBALIZATION: It's what's for dinner.
(Please note: This week's photo may be disturbing, yet for some, it is dinner.)

A SAD STORY:
The Standard American Diet and Farming

The rise of the global fast food empire has not only changed dietary patterns and increased health risk, it has also led to fundamental changes in the farming industry. What came first - the new technologies or the demand for cheap standardized quality-controlled food - is hard to say, but the two were wed in the fast food industry, which has transformed global food production over the past 50 years.

In his book, Schlosser describes the "advances" in potato production, as well as the beef and poultry industries during the initial rise of the fast food giants. Though more efficient and cost effective, the changes resulted in major abuses, which continue to impact people and the environment. Prompted by the needs of these growing corporations, large farms have now replaced small farms; the harvest of a single product has replaced a variety of rotated crops; pesticides and synthetic fertilizers are now required necessities; antibiotics and growth hormones in meat are standard practices; assembly line meat-packing abuses, slaughter house wastewater "lagoons," meat contamination, food borne pathogens, chemicals, preservatives and additives in processed foods, genetically modified crops (GMO), intense competition, multinational corporations - all are the realities of contemporary food production due in large part to profit on the side of the producer and increased demand on the side of the consumer.

"Agricide" is how Michael W. Fox describes the quiet holocaust taking place worldwide in the animal kingdom and in the environment as human beings, often as unknowing perpetrators, participate in the inhumane treatment of animals by purchasing certain foods, which lead to the production of deadly environmental pollution. [8] It is the dietary demand for a Western diet of meat, represented in fast food, which has changed farming practices worldwide and is having a negative impact on the environment.

According to Vital Signs 2007-2008 by The Worldwatch Institute, an independent research organization, meat production increased 2.5% to an estimated 276 million tons in 2006, with an expected rise in 2007 to 285 million tons. [9] The increase in meat production has been on a steady rise since studies began in 1961, with the current surge coming from Asia. It is estimated that in the developing world, people eat about 32 kilograms of meat per year, compared with almost 85 kilograms per person in the industrial world. With the ever-expanding advance of the fast food industry, this figure is expected to continue its rise as dietary preferences shift worldwide as is currently occurring in Asia. "The developing nations are copying us," writes John Robbins. "They associate meat eating with economic status of the developed nations, and continue to strive to emulate it." [10]

Though worldwide livestock production is up, livestock is "the single largest anthropogenic user of land," as meat production accounts for 70 percent of all agricultural land and 30 percent of the land surface of the planet. [11] In addition, they are responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which is higher than the share contributed by cars and sport utility vehicles. Of GHG, livestock account for 37% of methane, which has more than 20 times the global warming capacity of carbon dioxide, and 65% of nitrous oxide, which comes from the "lagoons" of manure at slaughterhouses. Schlosser explains these lagoons as such, "Each steer deposits about fifty pounds of manure every day. Unlike human waste, this manure is not sent to a treatment plant. It is dumped into pits, huge pools of excrement. . . . The amount of waste left . . . is staggering." [12]

With GHG rising through animal farming and poisonous chemical fertilizers being injected into the soil for crop production, the globalization of the American diet really is an agricide, but food movements across the world are taking notice and taking action.

Next week:
Global Food Movements making a difference

[8] Michael W. Fox, Eating with Conscience: The Bioethics of Food (Troutdale, OR: New Sage Press, 1997), 11.
[9] Danielle Nierenberg, "Meat Output and Consumption Grow," in Vital Signs 2007-2008: The Trends That Are Shaping Our Future, ed. Linda Starke (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007), 24.
[10] John Robbins, Diet For A New America, (Tiburon: H.J. Kramer Book and New World Library, 1987), 351.
[11] Nierenberg, 24.
[12] Schlosser, 150.

The Standard American Diet

This is part 2 of my research on global food movements, entitled
GLOBALIZATION: It's what's for dinner.

A SAD STORY:
The growing problem of
the Standard American Diet

It may be a generalization to say that it all started with a hamburger, but the globalization of the Standard American Diet is represented today by one. The hamburger is now a worldwide fast food phenomenon, with McDonald's as the proverbial "king," operating over 31,000 restaurants in 119 countries, serving nearly 47 million customers each day, and employing more than 1.5 million people. [3] For many around the planet, as in Hong Kong today, eating at McDonald's is "an ordinary, everyday experience" as the chain creates a transnational culture, becoming a pop icon and local institution by blending into the landscape and adapting to the culture. [4]

This glocalizing of the American diet is evidence of expanding globalization in many cultures. Books like Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser and Don't Eat this Book by Morgan Spurlock tell the story of the fast food movement, but also the shifts that have occurred in food preferences, which have resulted in an increase in health risk factors and shifts in farming practices. The tale these books tell is really a SAD one.

Schlosser writes, "The obesity epidemic that began in the United States during the late 1970s is now spreading to the rest of the world, with fast food as one of its vectors." [5] As the number of fast food restaurants in Great Britain roughly doubled, he goes on tell, so did the obesity rate among adults. Unlike the Brits who eat more fast food than other Western Europeans and who have the highest obesity rates, Italy and Spain have the lowest rate, while consuming far less fast food fare. In Japan, overweight people, once a rarity, are now common as the traditional healthy diet of rice, vegetables, and soy products is being replaced by an increase in red meat, a Western diet, and American fast food with its "Bi-gu Ma-ku."

Schlosser notes that, "The relationship between a nation's fast food consumption and its rate of obesity has not been definitely established through any long term, epidemiological study. The growing popularity of fast food is just one of many cultural changes that have been brought about by globalization. Nevertheless, it seems wherever America's fast food chains go, waistlines start expanding."

And it's not just waistlines that are expanding. The risks of a heart attack, cancer, diabetes, and other degenerative diseases also rise as Campbell and Campbell reveal in The China Study, the most comprehensive international study of nutrition ever conducted. [6] The study, which began in 1983, found that the greatest single influence on the growth of degenerative diseases was the amount of animal fat and animal protein eaten – the more you eat, the greater your risk. A recent 2008 study of 16,000 participants in 52 countries confirmed again that a western diet of fried food, salty snacks, meat and eggs (what would be classified as a typical fast food meal) accounts for 30 percent of heart attack risk across the world. The study noted that "the same relationships that are observed in Western countries exist in different regions of the world." [7]

Next week:
The Standard American Diet and the farming industry

[3] McDonald's Canada, "FAQs," http://www.mcdonalds.ca/en/aboutus/faq.aspx (accessed December 15, 2008).
[4] James L. Watson, "McDonald's in Hong Kong," in The Globalization Reader, 3rd ed., ed. Frank J. Lechner and John Boli (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2008), 129.
[5] Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001), 242.
[6] T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell II, The China Study, 1st Benbella paperback ed. (Dallas: Benbella Books, 2006).
[7] "'Western' Diet Increases Heart Attack Risk Globally," ScienceDaily (October 22, 2008), http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081020171337.htm (accessed October 31, 2008).

GLOBALIZATION: It's what's for for dinner.

My first full-time semester back in school with part-time work proved to be rather rigorous, leaving little time for me to maintain a weekly blog. However, for one of my courses (Globalization and Missions), I was able to focus on a topic that interests me: FOOD! I researched and wrote about contemporary global food trends. Because I want to keep this blog up and running, and to provide information and resources to encourage others to choose healthier and more environmentally friendly options in diet and lifestyle, I thought I'd feature sections of my paper over the coming weeks. I found the research invigorating (and infuriating). I hope you enjoy it and find it informative as you consider the choices you make each day for dinner.

GLOBALIZATION: It's what's for for dinner.
An Overview of Contemporary Global Food Trends
(It's not just a SAD story after all.)

Part 1:
INTRODUCTION
The statistics can be disheartening. Obesity, heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, breast cancer - the "diseases of civilization" - are all on the rise worldwide, while slaughterhouse scandals, mad cow disease, food born illnesses, avion bird flu, and meat recalls regularly appear in the headlines. The facts tell us that global dietary patterns have shifted in the past 50 years primarily due to the globalization of the Standard American Diet (SAD) [1]. The introduction of fast food choices has contributed to a decrease in overall health and an increase in the environmental crisis around the planet. It is currently a SAD story, but hopeful signs of a GLAD ending are emerging through Global Living Awareness Diets (GLAD) [2]. As the clown, the king, and the sub make their global way into communities, individuals are taking notice and making new choices. NGO food movements are pushing back and washing the palate of the world with fresh, local, healthy alternatives which nourish the body and the soul.

Best-selling books and numerous published health studies delineate the global trends and health risks related to a SAD fast food diet. This paper will summarize some of the key issues and highlight global food movements which combat them, offering consumers new choices which GLADden hearts, improve health, and ultimately, help save the planet.

Next week:
A SAD STORY: The growing problem of the Standard American Diet

[1] The "Standard American Diet" (S.A.D.) is a term coined by Peter Singer and Jim Mason in their 2006 book, The Ethics of What We Eat. They discuss the ethical implications resulting from the diets of three families, a "S.A.D." diet, a "Conscientious Omnivore" diet, and a vegan diet.
[2] GLAD is an acronym I created as a shorthand description of dietary choices that are globally aware of what it means to live in this new millennium.

No words needed

With Labor Day weekend here and my courses at FST beginning this week, summer is now over. Unfortunately, my summer plan to teach about vegan nutrition via this blog never materialized. The primary reason: MY COMPUTER, which had major issues early June and finally crashed on my birthday. By the time I purchased a new lap-top and was back to full on-line functioning, it was mid-August. With school around the corner, I decided to enjoy the rest of the summer, which I did.

During the summer, I took many steps forward in my journey as a "raw (or rawer) vegan". I have new restaurants and stores, which I will review. And I have numerous experiences, which I plan to share as I get back into the discipline of reading, writing, and blogging (unless of course, a full-time course load and part-time work get the best of me!).

Though I was not able to use this blog to articulate the nutritional value of a vegan and especially a raw vegan diet, my vegan life was able to make a positive difference this summer. Many of the vegetarian resources say that the greatest impact you can have in changing someone's diet and ultimately improving their health comes through your example and lifestyle. By doing what you do, and eating as you eat, people are watching and learning. I discovered the reality of this over the summer.

At camp these past months, I've been basing many more meals around the main kitchen. With the freshest produce in the walk-in fridge, it has been a lot of "grab and go." As my diet shifted and I began to decline certain meals, one of the cooks asked me point blank one day early this summer = "You're eating raw, aren't you?"

I had barely admitted to myself that I was a raw vegan, but caught red-handed, I fumbled for an answer and tentatively replied, "Yeah, I guess I'm eating rawer."

From the beginning, she has been observing my changing food choices. We've talked casually about diet, and she's overheard conversations I've had with her husband about health and fitness. And just last week she shared with me that she's taking a step forward with her health and giving up red meat. I'm so proud of her! Though hamburgers are still her weakness, it's a start and we all start somewhere. With the changes she has made, she's been feeling more energetic, less bogged down, and has even begun to lose weight!

At the neighborhood food pantry where I volunteer, I've had numerous opportunities to share about my diet. As we sort food, take food, and read food labels, we simply end up talking about food each Sunday. The food pantry workers are probably the first to learn about my latest decisions surrounding food choices, especially this summer as I've taken the "road less cooked."

A few weeks back, our food distribution coordinator shared with me that she has decided to eat raw during the daytime. It's been going very well and she is now enjoying it. Though she still cooks breakfast and dinner for her husband and family, she has shared that there are days she simply doesn't feel like eating what she's prepared so she will sit there with raw snap peas, her new favorite snack food.

She shared again today how Sunday after church lunches at a restaurant are now making her sick, and how, after the empenadas she had today, she thinks she's finally getting the message = Don't eat it! Her taste buds are changing, her body is detoxing, and through it, she has now lost 13 pounds in about 3 weeks. Her skin has cleared up and her allergies have not been as bad, and if anything, are disappearing. The wonders of going raw!

Her new favorite TV show is now on BBC America, "You are what you eat!" I've not seen it, but it sounds like my kind of show. She shared about one episode where they used 200 pounds of beef to form a human body, and then poured fat on it. The fat immediately coagulated when it touched the cold dead cow. Disgusting. She said, "The image would make any meat eater turn."

While I cannot take ALL the credit for her decision to eat raw during the day times, I do believe that my eating habits did have an influence.

As St. Francis is believed to have said (though I've not yet found it in my readings): "Preach the gospel. And if necessary, use words." Though I wasn't able to "teach" about vegan nutrition this summer, I am thankful that my example did encourage others to choose healthier and more environmentally friendly options in diet and lifestyle. And that is what this blog is really all about.

A raw decision

I have been moving these last few days. Thus, a delay in our vegan nutrition lessons. And as I've been moving, I discovered a new roommate - a field mouse. Because I've been determining how to best deal with my new friend (and I want to share it with you), we have another reason for the delay.

One of my first mornings in this new place, I made way into the kitchen and saw the eyes of a little creature poking around on the partially covered stovetop. When I moved closer, it dashed into the hole of the stove where the gas line comes up, and it disappeared while I tried to get a look to see where it escaped.

I had just moved in and was (and still am) between my old place at camp, which has hot water, and this new place, which still has no hot water. Other than my fruit bowl and compost bin, there is no food here and I've not done much food prep in this kitchen. There were no signs of visit earlier as this 5th wheel trailer unit I've moved into just arrived at camp last week. Thus, this is a new visit and a new place for my forest friend, who I prefer remain a "forest" friend.

A few weeks back I blogged about how I deal with insects as a vegan, and wrote, "luckily, I've not had to face ant swarms or rodent invasions in my place. If I do, you'll probably read it on the blog as I cross that ethical vegan dilemma when the time comes." Well, the time has come. How DO I as a vegan deal with this new dilemma?

At work last week, our camp's Executive Director asked me to pass the message on to our Associate Director that we need more rat poison. If I were to ask the camp for assistance on what to do, I know what their response will be as there has been evidence of increased invasion in other staff resident trailers. (That was a nice thing about my old residence - it was a house not a trailer.)

In moving from a house to a trailer, I've been needing to downsize and make decisions about what to keep, what to store, what to give away what to bring to my parent's place as I will be living there part-time and here at camp part-time when in school (the reason I'm switching residences at camp).

Like most folks, I have a shlew of pots, pans, et al. The night before "the visit", I had just moved a crate of some essential cookware I thought I might need. The cookware was actually in a crate right in front of the stove when I see the eyes looking at me. While moving the crate, removing the metal grate, and covering the entire stove top with cutting boards, I decided to simply leave the crate packed and bring it to my parent's place. And in that moment I decided I will not be cooking here and with that made another decision.

How do I as a vegan deal with the problem of rodents? Become a raw food vegan. (or at least, a raw food vegan while here at camp... for now.) The vegan-me adventure continues. Stay tuned.

The rising value of food

I am in LA visiting my sister and her family for the week (thus, the delay in posting to this blog). To make sure my "rawer vegan diet" is being fed, this weekend I went to food markets to purchase fresh fruits and veggies. When at home, I don't really need to shop at grocery stores as much of my produce comes from the food pantry where I weekly volunteer, or from the kitchen at the camp where I work. Thus, this weekend was the first time in a long time I entered a store to buy food for myself. I was shocked by the prices I found! Surprised. Blow away. I had heard that food prices had risen because of the rising costs of fuel, but I could not believe what I was seeing as I walked down the aisles.

I discovered just how much more organic locally grown food really is, and how expensive fresh fruits and vegetables currently are. Thus, I realized how lucky I am to have access to the bounty of produce, which is always available in the refrigerators at camp, even though it is not organic but similar in quality to grocery stories. And I also realized how blessed I am when organic selections become available at the food pantry, which is stocked by Trader Joe's through the "scraps" pulled from the shelf when the "sell by" date is reached. The multitude of perfectly wholesome food would literally be taken to the dump, if it was not for the non-profit groups that thankfully and gratefully pick up the many many bags everyday. (The group I work with gets the Saturday and Sunday scraps from the Trader Joe's in Millbrae.)

With food costs on the rise, and me, personally seeing the domino effect that American lust and obsession with autos has created, it becomes even more of a horror for me now to see food go to waste. Each piece of fruit has so much more value - with value being assessed not just by the grocery bill factor.

Though the value of food is accentuated today because of its economic cost, vegan-me is also learning about how the value of food is increased because of its nutritional value.

When I share about my dietary transformation to vegetarian to vegan to now a "rawer vegan" (a vegan considering and transitioning into a raw foods diet), people always ask questions about something they assume I would be lacking, like protein or calcium, enjoyment or taste. To be honest, I've never felt like I had a good succinct answer as I still am coming to understand nutrition, what the body needs, what my body needs, the amino acids of protein, the purpose of calcium, and so forth. While the resources are helpful (to a point), some are confusing, others conflicting, a few overly technical with too much information, and a few too simplistic with no good explanation. It's been a challenge.

A resource I found recently by George Eisman, one of the nation's foremost educators on nutrition, has provided the simple clarity I've been looking for and needing. The author of The Most Noble Diet:Food Selection and Ethics, Eisman in his second work, A Basic Course in Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition, provides an excellent overview of the advantages of the vegan dietary, expert guidance on the "whys", and clear nutritional information with insightful illustrations. With my limited background and non-scientific mind, this resource has been a God-send.

A study-at-home course on basic nutrition, one copy is listed on Amazon for $49.99 + $3.99 shipping! I bought my copy for less than the cost of shipping -- $3.98 at Half Price Books in Berkeley. I value my brand new copy now more than ever, though copies are available for $21.95 from American Vegan. However, in the coming weeks, I will be highlighting (for FREE - a real value) some of the key nutritional insights I'm gleaning from the text related to protein, calcium, and other issues with which vegans are confronted.

For me, one of the key breakthroughs in my transition to a raw vegan diet is the simple realization that to benefit from the nutrition in raw plant foods, I will need to eat more. I'll explain why in the coming weeks, but the value of food is increasing in my life as I recognize the life-giving energy in whole, natural, unprocessed foods, as the Creator has intended.

Because of my limited financial resources, I was not able to purchase all organic vegetables and fruits for my time in Los Angeles this week. I did get to a local Farmer's Market for a few valuable purchases like large luscious locally grown apricots, but at the grocery stores, my most valuable purchase by far was a homemade local raw vegan chocolate brownie, which I've been enjoying (in small chunks) after each run - definitely worth the sticker shock $5.95 I paid!

Eisman writes, "We each must choose foods everyday, and in that choice some rippling effect takes place. Every dollar spent for food sends a message to food producers, some of which are the largest and most powerful corporations in the world. They are motivated by profit, and will respond to what is and what isn't consumed. Therein the power of the individual lies." (A Basic Course in Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition, p. 123)

In the footsteps of Francis

Because vegan-me is in the midst of finishing up my first semester at the Franciscan School of Theology with a paper on St. Francis of Assisi and his relationship with creation, this week's blog is simply a reflective thought. It is an example from one of Francis' biographers of Francis' contemplation on creation, which led to his reverence of creation, and to his responsibility to embrace an environment ethic of sustainability. With news reports this week of global natural disasters, food shortages, polar bears on the extinction list, meat recalls, and more, may you be challenged by Francis' example to reflect on what creation is calling you to be and do, in terms of reverence and responsibility in our era of environmental crisis.

Thomas of Celano writes of St. Francis of Assisi:

He rejoices in all the works of the Lord's hands, and through their delightful display he gazes on their life-giving reason and cause. In beautiful things he discerns Beauty Itself; all things cry out to him: "The One who made us is the Best." Following the footprints imprinted on creatures, he follows his Beloved everywhere; out of them all he makes for himself a ladder by which he might reach the Throne. He embraces all things with an intensity of unheard devotion, speaking to them about the Lord and exhorting them to praise Him....

When the brothers are cutting wood he forbids them to cut down the whole tree, so that it might have hope of sprouting again. He commands the gardener to leave the edges of the garden undisturbed, so that in their season the green of herbs and the beauty of flowers may proclaim the beautiful Father of all. He even orders that within the garden a smaller garden should be set aside for aromatic and flowering herbs so that those who see them may recall the memory of eternal savor....

He calls all animals by a fraternal name, although, among all kinds of beast, he especially loves the meek (and those who are going extinct - a vegan-me editorial). Who is capable of describing all of this? Truly, that fountain-like goodness, which will be all in all, already shone clearly in all for this saint.

(From "The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul by Thomas of Celano" - 2C 165 in Francis of Assisi: The Founder: Early Documents, Volume 2, p. 353-354.)