One thing I find is missing from the climate change discussions is a vision as to what a prosperous future could look like. There is plenty said about the need to reduce emissions and reduce carbon footprints, but what could this really look like? A major contributor to global emissions is agriculture, so how could this look in the future?
An obvious change is to transition away from globalised agriculture back to local agriculture. The presence of local markets as the main source of food, rather than the supermarket with food flown in from far flung locations requiring lots of transport, energy and a robust supply chain. Local markets reduce food transport miles, assist in the provision of local employment and help maintain local communities. It also slows the gradual descent into corporate controlled food, grown in mono-cultures and helps support organic farming and biodiversity. Local food supply also supports regenerative agriculture raising food quality and reducing the levels of herbicides and fossil fuel based fertilisers, both of which are contributing to the atmospheric carbon levels and pollution.
These possible changes could create jobs, support the community, quality of life and quality of food. Would it come at a higher cost, probably a little but the application of the same skills as applied to today’s corporate supply chains may be able to minimise this. Regenerative farming can provide food with higher nutrition, use less water, while sequestering carbon in the soil, unlike monoculture farming which depletes soils and releases carbon. This also supports one of the most important changes coming to your diet, which is the move to more real food with less factory processed food in your diet. If this interests you, take a look at my book, “Take back your health” on Amazon.
Of course we would still have food traded, but it should be food that has a low carbon footprint and is high value, unable to be supplied from the local market.
George Elder, Author, "Take Back Your Health", Amazon here.
