Convinced by the doomsdayers like Bill McKibben, who’s article convincing people that the Earth’s habitability is near extinction and fossil fuel companies are the devil I had to read for class (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719), I’ve been more motivated to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions caused by my lifestyle. Obviously one person can’t fix the issue, but at the same time it all adds up and we are all capable agents of social change. I believe it’s all of our civic duties to “be the change” we want to see in the world. Inspired by http://lowcarbongirl.com/, I aim to demonstrate how we can all stop fuelling the anthropocene extinctions and the Koch brothers’ rapidly inflating wallets (http://archives.politicususa.com/2011/09/21/koch-brothers-wealth.html).
I decided long ago to start walking instead of driving whenever it is feasible for my health (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/17-reasons-to-walk-more-this-year/#axzz3n7095s31) and heat my house only when Dan or Jay complained about seeing their breath while lounging around snapchatting, but I’ve recently zoned in on the food I eat and it’s effects on the global methane and carbon dioxide levels. Fossil fuels are heavily relied upon during the whole food chain from:
- manufacture of fertilizer
- manufacture of pesticides
- heavy machinery cultivations
- transportation
- refrigeration
- others?
So there goes the grocery store!
Options now include:
- wild harvested meat, fruit, and vegetables
- forlorn foods at friends’ abodes
- leftovers at the school dining hall
- unwanted sides at mall dining court
- grocery store dumpsters
- garbage cans in close proximity to takeaways
- carbon neutral foods at the store (so far I’ve only seen wine http://www.yealands.co.nz/wines/all/peter-yealands)
Posts about each of these to come if you beg… or bride with near-rotten vegetables
Some of this might not sound appetizing, but that would only indicate you haven’t practiced using your scavenging eye enough. My amazing scavenging team members will vouch for the deliciousness and pure ecstasy we’ve derived from plenty of these sustenance sources. Let me know if you’d like to join next time we go harvest!
I still haven’t figured out how to cook my food without spurting mass quantities of pollution into this revitalising New Zealand air, but I welcome suggestions. Perfection in life will be attained if I could just find a reliable source of half-drank coffees like I did the other day at the mall. Or a carbon neutral source to buy. Anyone know of any? Tea and chocolate would be nice as well…
Road Kill Rusk 
Zack, Nice post. I’m sure you could make a solar oven to cook your food: http://www.instructables.com/id/Best-Solar-Oven/
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Maybe if I am ever in a place for more than a few months!
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Seems like a lifestyle based on a key element of time; time to harvest, time to hunt, time to scavenge. What are the options for those of us that have been forced into a lifestyle of productiveness that relies on the dedication of 80% of our time to various “office” tasks?
Also, is there any hope of redemption for those of us whose digestive system is not adapted to processing hunted/gathered foods? For example, my family relies a lot on the use of antacids and proton pump inhibitors…
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Lack of time is probably the most common reason given for people to not put effort into their food. And this is why it is important to have a supportive social network that can help with these things. It’s also why we need to guide the food culture and infrastructure to provide the healthy option as the default, lowering the burden placed on people that currently have to go way out of their way to source food that doesn’t destroy the earth and their bodies. But a person also has to analyze how they spend their time and their priorities in life. So many people put in the hours slaving away for someone else’s profit and benefit and end up with no energy or time at the end of the day to invests in themselves. I think a lot of people could benefit from inspecting why they are actually doing the things that they spend time performing.
And I’m saying all food has to be gathered by the person that’s eating it. There is nothing wrong with a market that supplies quality food. There just seems to be a lack of access to it currently. Farm land, here I come.
For those with digestive issues, I’d recommend looking into this eBook by Chris Kresser: https://chriskresser.com/heartburn/. It solved my experimental mass sugar consumption induced GERD!
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