A Post-food Economy?
The last mile problem with good eating
As reported recently in the Financial Times, Britain suffers from vast waste in fruits and vegetables, left in the fields to rot from not being harvested. Most of the workers there in the past came from the Ukraine, as can be seen in the article. Filling in and harvesting the food from the fields is not in the offing for the locals, apparently.
And yet, these are Brits, are they not? Do they not yearn to become pensioners to retire to the country to …. garden?
This is a big-time American problem as well, exacerbated by populist wall-building. I remember one of Anthony Bourdaine’s last interviews with Hispanic food workers in Los Angeles. They laughed together uproariously about the arguable stupidity of border closers when it came to lunch time, perchance if that lunch were to include actual food that was being provided by workers who routinely crossed the border for that purpose.
I have done some field work in my life — mostly in beans, where in my community you could get the princely sum in the 1950s of $.-4-$.05 per pound for joining the harvest in early mornings in the late summer. My Tingey ancestral line is made up of professional gardeners in Brigham City and Centerville in Utah and in Biggleswade in Bedfordshire north of London before that. They made a business of it comprised of much hard work of all kinds.
Presumably, Americans, Britons, and others want to continue to eat good, fresh food. Our health is coupled to this, as well as our general enjoyment of life. Being close to a garden, with its sights and fragrances and sometimes its sounds provides real rewards, especially if these are in contrast to the other affairs of the day.
On occasion, one sees advertisements for meals out of tubes like for toothpaste, in solid bars as in candy, or in boxes ready for microwave treatment. Perhaps these are preparing for us to eat in outer space. For those of us that are permanently Earth-bound, real food is surely a better choice.
A friend and mentor of mine, Dell Allen, set up a vegetable growing program using PVC pipes, plastic buckets, and movable carts for in-house growing. He proved it out very well. Such kinds of ideas could work for homes and apartments, particularly with balconies and large windows to take in the Sun. Below, we can see a woman working in a “kitchen garden” that serves such a purpose.
Think of the difference in the last mile challenge of getting good, fresh food onto your plate. Tripping over to your window garden to harvest some tomatoes and perhaps some peas — or out into the yard — is no trouble at all. It can’t even be called work. A similar approach could be to join a coop as exist in many places. These solve the last mile problem for you and may offer the opportunity to do some picking where you do not have the opportunity to plant.
Such ways are very ancient. In Sumer in the Middle East before the times of Abraham in the Bible, the people had vegetable gardens for fresh, varied sources of food, even in and around the cities. Being close the plants as they growth is good for health, well-being, and peace of mind generally. Growing plants create good air and fresh fragrances. Flowers can be mixed in with this to round out the picture, along with select herbs for seasoning and drinks.
Regardless, above all, the people need to eat the good stuff — fresh, varied, and convenient is as an important task as might be. Britain in its heyday thought they could ignore this simple truth and planned to get their food from elsewhere — from the colonies in particular. They thought that they were beyond all of that, industrialized and fancy. As a result, the people couldn’t feed themselves. There was much poverty and want — particularly in the mid-1800s, but in other times as well. As they took things into their own hands, the aristocrats locked them up or sent them overseas, typically as “convicts”.
This was a critical problem for Britain during the 20th century wars. This made them extremely vulnerable. As much as anything else, that is what brought their empire down.
Food is number one. Our only major problem is getting it off the vine and onto our plates. It only makes sense to reduce that distance.
Of course, there are food-related items that can be isolated, produced, stored, and distributed from place to place. Many of these may be quasi-medicinal and effectively supplemental. In some cases, there are climate-related factors to be considered, as well as know-how, host planting requirements, and labor suitability. For these, effective regimes need to be laid out and supported to fill the need in terms of packaging, transport, and distribution.
Resolving the last mile problem with regard to fresh food opens up space and resources for these other kinds of food and supplies. This needs to be coordinated, particularly with regard to the general health of the people, public and personal health. The goal should be optimum performance living, not just survival. After food in terms of needs is shelter (comfortable and supportive of mobility and physical requirements), clothing, and health care requirements.