(Nimue)
The food we eat has a massive environmental impact. However, food as a subject is emotive and divisive, and suggestions about greener living often ignore poverty, disability and illness. For me, finding kinder ways of handling things is really important, so I’ve got some food suggestions that I hope are inclusive. If I’ve made any mistakes on that score, please tell me.
Food waste is an easy thing to work on. Primarily this means not throwing away edible food, and not buying too much food so that it goes off before you can use it. This can be harder around illness, but it’s still worth just trying to do the best you can. Avoiding food waste saves money. Re-using left overs is good, and if you plate smaller portions and let people go back for seconds if they want, you get more usable leftovers. This is all much harder if you can’t afford to run a fridge, but I suspect people who are in that much difficulty are already avoiding food waste as much as possible.
If you are eating meat, consider cutting back on how much meat you eat, and replacing it with other options – but only if your body can handle other proteins. Beef is especially environmentally damaging, so if it is feasible for you to cut back on that, it’s a good choice. Some people have very few things their bodies will accept as food so it’s really important to avoid making people who are already suffering feel guilty about what little they can eat. If you have options then reducing the amount of meat in meals is also worth a thought. If you are pressed financially then vegetarian food can often be a cheaper choice.
Packaging is a big issue with food. You may be able to cut back on non-recyclable packaging. It’s worth looking at reducing the amount of packaging you are buying, even if it is recyclable and this tends to be at its worst around snacks anyway, rather than essential things. Multi-bags of things that are also in their own bags are obvious offenders. Plastic recycling often gets dumped in developing countries, so cutting back on those single use plastics is a good choice if you can.
There are some conflicts here. I’ve seen a few people pointing out that going vegan has meant they eat more processed food than they used to. You might be able to take your own containers to the local butchers, but you might not be able to source vegan and vegetarian proteins without a lot of packaging. If you are souring locally, the impact of food miles and your local economy may also be factors. How far should you drive to visit your local farmer’s market?
There are always trade-offs, and we each face questions of what we can personally sustain with the bodies and budgets we have. Druidry is not the quest for some imaginary state of perfection. However, being thoughtful about what we do, and doing the best we can in the circumstances is the approach to aim for.
Druid Life 
Honestly the food production system (horrible phrase!) is one of the clearest signs for me that we desperately need a new counterculture.
I have met a few communities like the Catholic Worker (catchphrase: few Catholics and often out of work 🤣) that actually practise unplugging e.g. dumpster diving, growing stuff, begging… but they are few and far.
The situation really does appear hopeless, culture of any kind is a thing of the past.
But still I would rather be awake than asleep when the end comes.
I very much agree with all of this. Industrial food production is a toxic nightmare in every way.
But there are indications, speaking of needing a new counterculture, that large-scale adoption of regenerative ag practices is both feasible and more productive than current (dare I say antiquated?) agriculture.
That is a cheering thing, thank you. and I agree that the industrial models are antiquated. They do not serve.
I grew up living largely off of food from our allotment. In more recent years, I’ve seen it suggested that people struggling with the cost of food should grow more of their own food. Although there can be some merit in that, I’d caution people that it’s not necessarily very practical.
My mother was unemployed, so tending the allotment was basically her occupation. We had several adjacent allotments, and it took several days a week to weed and water it, then preparing the ground, planting, and harvesting had to happen at the appropriate times of year. There were ongoing costs for seeds (you might think “don’t plants make their own seeds?”, but (a) a lot of the high quality crops are infertile – the seed companies produce seeds that grow into plants that don’t produce viable seeds and (b) if you want to self-seed you need to grow enough of a thing to eat AND enough to make enough seeds for next year, taking up more space, and introducing a precarity that a bad year might wipe out your seed stock) and allotment rental, and setup costs to buy tools and materials. Plus, the original setup time-cost of, when you take on a piece of land that has gone wild, removing all the grass and weeds that will have sprung up all over it. And if you’re sick for a month, or need to rush off to visit family in an emergency, your allotment will be covered in weeds when you return, some of your crops already overwhelmed by the weeds or by the slugs that breed explosively in the weeds, etc.
Growing your own food is fantastic in many ways, but be aware that there’s an initial up-front cost, ongoing costs, and risks! And those costs are both time and money! Think of it as a way to get healthier and more interesting food, and to exercise, and to be closer to the land, and a satisfying hobby, rather than a cheap way to feed your family.
However, if it’s a cheap way to feed your family that you want, I can highly recommend the writings of Jack Monroe: https://oursouthend.wordpress.com/ – online, and books you can buy.
And I’d second Nimue’s point that food is an emotive topic. It’s important that you have food that is healthy, and makes you feel good, because without that you won’t be able to do your best at meeting all the demands on you. Food is fuel, and different people need different things, so don’t let anybody else tell you what you should eat. By all means take ethical considerations into account when choosing your diet, but don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for what you eat!
Thank you for this. I suspect that people who advocate growing your own as a cheap cost have never tried it, nor thought about how much lead time there might be on that, either.
Oh yes, I forgot lead time! A pile of seeds and some fertile ground aren’t much use to you if you’re hungry today…
When it comes to Meat, I only take Domesticated Farmed Meats and do not touch anything Wild or Hunted. So only I only Eat mainly Beef, Pork & Chicken Products.
Very well said, Nimue! Great topic! I am Celiac, so cannot eat any gluten whatsoever. This isn’t a real burden once you get used to it. By choice, I am “flexitarian,” mostly vegan, with a big exception for my neighbor’s fresh eggs from doted-on chickens and occasional forays into wild shellfish and fish and a (preferably local and humanely raised) chicken or turkey on holidays. My body does seem to do better with some animal protein, but I keep this to a minimum for both ethical and environmental reasons. So I am basically the opposite of David, lol!
Here in the states, any meat products you purchase in a grocery store come from Confined Animal Feeding Operations, known for being cruel, unsanitary, and hotbeds of emerging diseases. That’s my reasoning for taking that position. I can get humanely raised farm animal products (unless you’re someone who believes that domestication and/or killing for food is de facto inhumane — that’s a whole other stance) from our farmer’s market (40 minutes away), but my husband is loathe to pay the much higher prices and doesn’t mind eating plant-based. (As if on cue, a very fat gray squirrel just hopped onto the porch and began eyeing me through the window. Don’t worry, little buddy, you’re safe here! 😛 )
While it’s not necessary, it’s very tempting to resort to processed vegan meat and dairy alternatives, and I admit that with the luxury to do so, we often do. At least I’ve eliminated those Styrofoam trays, I guess? My 1,000 sq. ft. vegetable garden eliminates much need for the farmer’s market, but Alaric is spot-on about the hidden costs of home agriculture. I do it for my soul as much as for our bodies, and to be my own version of the counter-culture of which Escapades spoke.
I think we have slightly better food standards in the UK around meat production, but even so there is a lot to be uneasy about, I do not like the way we treat captive creatures. There is a farm in the UK that rewilded and lets the livestock go free range, and that’s been a heartening tale and I hope we get more like it.
In my previous apartment I could get a farm box delivered biweekly — fresh organic veggies and fruit, minimally packaged (late at night; I think I was the last delivery before they got on the freeway to go home. I had the delivery guys call me so I could go out and get the box before the porch pirates got to it.) It was lovely, unfortunately not workable in my current apartment.
I’m originally from Colorado; my father hunted and I grew up on elk meat and fresh trout. Now I only eat meat a couple times per week, mainly chicken and some salmon, although I worry about radiation contamination from Fukushima in west coast salmon. I think the fish caught up off the Alaska coast is probably safer, but then life anywhere doesn’t feel really safe to me any more. It’s a strange time to be alive, everything changes very quickly.
Strange times indeed. Thank you for sharing this.
It is! The truth and science are on Gaia’s side.
Sadly vested interests do not see it that way, and I fear for the wrath that may well be to come.