“Food is the one central thing about human experience that can open up both our senses and our conscience to our place in the world.”—Alice Waters
Instead of writing down resolutions for the new year, I prefer to set intentions of the year and move forward for there. For this year, my intentions will be the same as 2017’s: Trust my intuition and manifest abundance. These intentions will continue to guide my actions this 2018, hence my continued advocacy for sustainable farming and dining. After all, what better way to manifest abundance than to eat food that nourish not only one’s body and soul, but will also benefit the small farmers and fishermen and ensure that the land and water resources will keep on producing enough food for everyone?
This is also the reason for my first column for the year, I decided to list down some ideas that can help you to start or continue with your sustainable dining regimen.
Know your why
It’s a trend now: farm-to-table dining, third wave cafes, bean to bar chocolates, artisanal food, weekend markets. You might have purchased some of these items and/or dined in one of these restaurants. It probably started out of curiosity, enticed by what you’ve read in your social-media feed or what you’ve heard from your colleagues. But after you got your taste and you still want to continue with this kind of dining lifestyle, you might want to know why you want to get into it. Is it because it’s healthy? Does it support one of your advocacies, such as animal welfare and environmentalism? Would it make you a better food blogger or social-media influencer? Whatever your reasons are, your first step toward sustainable dining is to read more about it. There are so many free resources available online now and many books have been written about anything related to sustainable dining and farming. Some books that I can personally recommend are The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe, Hope’s Edge by Frances Moore Lappe and Anna Lappe and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver.
My journey toward sustainable dining started 20 years ago after buying an old copy of Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe where I learned livestock raising (specifically cattle raising) used up so much of the Earth’s resources. It was also around that time that I discovered yoga and meditation in a shala founded by Ananda Marga monks. These two events encouraged me to become a vegetarian, believing that it would be better for my health and the environment (which has always been one of my pet advocacies). I’m no longer a vegetarian, but I continue to be conscious about the benefits of having more vegetables in my diet. I’m also fortunate enough that my job as an agribusiness/commodities journalist has given me numerous opportunities to learn from interviews with farmers, non-governmental organization workers, scientists, doctors and entrepreneurs on the need for sustainable farming systems like organic agriculture and agroecology.
Take baby steps
You don’t need to throw away all the contents of your pantry or force your entire family to get into the program just because you decided you will just consume organic vegetables from now on. Like any kind of advocacy or lifestyle change, you can start by taking baby steps. Perhaps, instead of buying those 3-in-1 coffee packets, you can replace it with brewed coffee made from beans sourced directly from coffee farmers and sweetened by coconut sugar or honey produced by cooperatives and indigenous groups. I know that some shops like the Echostore chain of retail outlets and Ritual store in Makati sell these items.
Or you can spend one Sunday buying organic and artisanal food from entrepreneurs in weekend markets, such as those in Legazpi and Salcedo in Makati, Mandala Park’s weekend market in Mandaluyong and Sidcor Weekend Market in Quezon City. Talk to the vendors and learn more about how the products were prepared, how those vegetables were grown, and how you can use them to prepare your meals at home. Another baby step is to give yourself the occasional treat of dining in one of these farm-to-table restaurants that have sprouted in Makati, Ortigas and Bonifacio Global City. They’re pricey but it will make you rethink why you’re not eating such good meals every day.
Dig deeper
And I meant that in a literal sense—that is, dig your own soil by having your own garden. Nothing will make you understand more about the importance of sustainability by nurturing plants and harvesting the fruits—literally—of your own labor. And no, you don’t need a big plot of land to be able to garden. Container gardening can be done even in a condo—you just need pots, soil and a window that can bring in sunlight.
When you garden, you will learn the importance of soil fertility, why crop diversity is better than drenching your crops with pesticides, or how compost can help you reduce waste. You will also learn why it’s better to eat and buy only what’s in season—they taste
better and cheaper.
Not everything is in black or white
My problem sometimes with those who are treading this path of sustainability is the holier-than-thou posture of some of its advocates. They have this my-way-or-the-highway attitude, making you feel guilty for buying packaged food from huge food manufacturing conglomerates or relishing that burger and French fries you bought from a fast-food restaurant.
The thing is, nothing in this world is in entirely good or evil. There are only several shades of gray and it’s up to you how you will live your life without being judgmental of other people’s (or even your own) choices. You might want to boycott that fast-food restaurant because they serve unhealthy food or because you are a vegan who thinks eating these burgers promote cruelty to animals. But did you even stop to consider that these restaurants that you are boycotting provide jobs to thousands of working students who rely on their wages to pay for their tuition and build a better life? The food manufacturers and industrial agribusiness farms that you might be demonizing employ thousands of workers and also provide affordable food items (and convenience) to millions of households who have limited food budgets.
There’s a way for you to consume organic vegetables bought directly from a farmers’ cooperatives, while, at the same time, continue buying processed food from big food manufacturers. It might seem contradictory, but our lives are always full of contradictions. It is up to us to reconcile our deeply held beliefs with our personal choices.
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Prime Sarmiento is a longtime business journalist who specializes in food, agribusiness and commodities-trade reporting. Her stories have been published in both local and international publications, including Nikkei Asian Review, China Daily, Science and Development News Network and Dow Jones Newswires.
Comments and ideas are welcome at prime.sarmiento@gmail.com.