5.4.2 Part of a bigger picture

In the same way that we need to pay attention to the invisible when it comes to soil health, we also need to think beyond what we see when we consume and dispose of things. So the first step is awareness. Because how can we make choices without understanding what those choices mean?

Below you can see the first film released by The Story of Stuff Project, back in 2007. This gives a good summary of the bigger picture of what we consume. They have since made a whole host of films that you can check out (website in the course manual).

When it comes to food, it matters what we eat, but it also matters how it is produced. As Wendell Berry has said “eating is an agricultural act”, a natural part of the cycle of food production, so we are all involved in farming. Below you can see a chart, from Our World in Data that shows some common foods and how much the different parts of the supply chain contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. The green, brown, orange and blue parts are different parts of the production chain. Now this is just one important aspect, namely emissions. Other major parts to a finished product on the shelf include fairness of wages and working conditions, exposure of people and wildlife to toxins, effects on habitats and biodiversity to mention just a few.

Perhaps the most important concept to be aware of, is that production is almost always responsible for the greatest impact on planetary health, and often on human health. As you can see in the chart below transport accounts for a relatively small part when it comes to emissions. Of course, avoiding for example soft fruits from faraway places is advisable as these are most likely to have travelled by air, and therefore have a more significant transport impact.

Generally, there is a strong argument for prioritising good production methods over buying local. Buying local on the other hand can offer more transparency, and you might have a greater influence over production methods on a local scale. Long distance transport might influence nutritional content of food. So it’s complex!

What about Organic?

The organic movement began as a counter-movement to the rise in use of synthetic fertilisers, pesticides and other chemicals at the beginning of the 20th century. These additives cause plenty of harm, from poisoning ecosystems, to affecting our gut microbiomes and destroying natural eco-systems, not to mention the health effects on farmers and their communities. This makes the choice of organically grown produce beneficial. And it helps the consumer that there are strict certifying bodies to regulate organic produce.

However, in most cases, organically produced food involves lots of soil disruption through ploughing, and it does not always involve diversity either. Cover-cropping is a common practice which helps. So, yes, choosing organic over “conventionally-grown” produce is likely advantageous, but in many cases it still jeopardises soil health. Food grown using regenerative methods and Conservation Agriculture on the other hand prioritises ecosystem functioning and there are more and more farms that operate with both organic certification and minimal soil disturbance methods.

Buying less, wasting less

Remember the planetary boundaries? The extent to which we’re crossing these is driven by consumption. The more we consume, the more resource use and emissions we contribute with. That’s a big reason for simply buying less.

But we still need food, right? Yes, we do! But buying less still applies here. Because food waste is a huge problem worldwide. Food waste is estimated to contribute one third of all food-related emissions. And one third (some estimate as much as two thirds) of this waste is happening “at home”, so by us consumers.

Yes, it all starts with this!

There are different ways to exercise our power as consumers. And the approach depends very much on our own situation. Let’s look at some examples. 

I might be living in the countryside with a tiny local shop nearby, where there is a limited selection of food to choose from. Of course, nowadays, I could perhaps widen my choice by shopping online, but I want to support the local shop as I feel it is valuable for the community. I have begun to explore the importance of soil health and want to make choices that support this, but find it difficult to put this into practice. I decide to speak to the shopkeeper and explain what I am interested in, but they say they have no idea how the vegetables have been grown, as they source them from a bigger greengrocers, let alone any other food products on the shelves. I decide to make some inquiries about local farms in the area, and find a small farm where the farmer is happy for me to come and visit. It turns out that this particular farm is under transition to becoming regenerative, and they are gradually phasing out all use of synthetic fertilisers and have stopped ploughing. They’ve already noticed improvements in the soil, but the learning and change in methods have taken time, and there does not yet seem to be an interest among the community, despite trying to have open farm days, something that’s passed me by.  I go back to the shopkeeper and ask them if they would consider stocking this farm’s products. The shopkeeper agrees to it on a small-scale trial basis, and soon word spreads about the superior flavour and quality of these products. During the high season, the farmer decides to offer a vegetable subscription bag and the shop becomes a pick-up point for customers. In this way, the farm and shop connection become stronger. Customers who sign up for the vegetable bag subscription buy more of their other food in the shop, but the shopkeeper soon notices a demand from these customers for knowledge about where and how food has been produced, and gradually change happens to what is on offer in the tiny little shop. 

Or I might be living in a city centre, surrounded by crowds, shops and lots of choices. But with no farm in sight. How can I begin to get closer to the source of my food? I decide to explore what initiatives already exist that closely line up with my values. I soon find an urban food growing project, but find it difficult to make time to get involved on a regular basis. But through this, I hear about a farm subscription that delivers to the city. Once I start looking and speaking to people around me, there all sorts of schemes and projects going on and the potential for getting close to the origin of my food, despite living in a concrete landscape becomes much more accessible. Now, I’m not only able to source food in a more intentional manner for eating at home, but I also start talking to the owner of my favourite café. I explain what I’m really passionate about, and share what I’m finding out as I explore my potential impact on the food system, my enthusiasm is contagious. A little ripple of change is happening. 

When we make food choices, there could be a variety of different priorities that lead the way. These could be price or wanting to support a particular brand or a local producer. You might want to avoid exposure to pesticides as far as possible and choose certified organic products. You might be counting calories. Or you might be avoiding a certain ingredient for various reasons. If a product you find does not fulfil your criteria, what do you do? Do you buy the equivalent, but by your criteria lesser product? Or do you consider skipping the product altogether? Now, buying the lesser product does not exert much consumer power. The seller does not know about your preference and if everyone is content with continuing to buy this product, they will keep stocking it. If you on the other hand skip buying it, especially if it’s something you would habitually buy, there might be a noticable reduction, even more so of course if others do the same. But the seller still doesn’t know your preference. They might continue with the same product, or get a similar one in which might still not fulfil your value-led criteria. However, if you instead request a change, you plant a seed with the seller, and even more so if you explain why. Now, if there are other customers within earshot of this conversation, you might even plant a seed with them. 

In both these scenarios, I make an effort to change what is available to me as a consumer. In the first, I might be a bit of a pioneer in that community and my efforts involve creating connections, and influencing others along the way. In the second, it would seem that much change is already happening, albeit not in the mainstream or at least not in my previous view. But as soon as I tap in to that bustling and active network of change makers, it opens up an empowering experience for me as a consumer. 

Now, consumers can have a wide variety of priorities, for example price, supporting the local economy, avoiding pesticides or just buying a particular product out of habit. But for the purpose of this course, let’s say your top priority is to encourage soil health through your food choices. How does that look in reality? We’re now going to look at a few concepts that might help to guide you in what can be quite a jungle. Again, we’re going to focus here on soil health in general, rather than nutrition or planetary health. The reason being, that some aspects for example transport can have different effects on planetary health and nutrient content. This is mainly because fresh foods for example, tend to lose some nutrients over time, and so long-haul transport can have an effect. Meanwhile, as we’ve seen earlier, transport has a nominal planetary effect compared to the production phase of the food chain, as long as you avoid foods that have been transported by air. 

It’s not just about avoiding buying something that does not line up with our values, but it’s also about making positive choices and actually supporting the producers that are working towards positive change. Like plants and microorganisms are dependent on each other, producers and consumers are dependent on each other. Many change-making producers are pioneers, going against the grain, they might be excluded from rigid rules for receiving subsidies or other grants, taking huge risks to follow their values and intention. If this lines up with yours, they are providing you with something you might not find anywhere else. You can spread the word and give moral support, but in this monetary world, your real power lies in actually buying their products. That is also how they might still be providing this service for you over time. 

Perhaps the most important concept to remember, is that production is almost always responsible for the greatest impact on planetary health, and often on human health. That is, things like transport and packaging generally have a much smaller effect. Of course, avoiding for example soft fruits from faraway places is advisable as these are most likely to have travelled by air, and therefore have a more significant transport effect. Nutritionally, time from harvest can also be important, and of course then long distance transport might influence nutritional content of food. 

So how can we glean how food has been produced, 

Well, when it’s sitting neatly on a counter in a supermarket, it can be quite tricky. If it’s a local product, it can be easier to get an idea. In fact, the more local and the fewer steps in a chain, the more transparent. 

Food is still usually valued by weight, with some increase in value for certified organic or locally produced products. But is weight a good measurement when it comes to food? And what are we actually paying for? 

For most of us, we are not actually paying for our food. Well, indirectly through taxes we might be contributing. But the price you see in the supermarket doesn’t actually reflect the costs of most items. Getting back to our carrots, let’s first consider the farmer’s costs for producing a kg of carrots. 

The term regenerative, is not protected and does not carry a certification. The term is used in different ways. Many would argue that food produced with regenerative methods should result in carbon sequestration in the process, and would normally involve a combination of the principles explored in module 3. 

This is not an easy task today, but the future will hopefully look different. 

Now, you already know from what we’ve covered in this course, that the key to good production methods involves prioritising soil health, and that being the healthy relationships between living plants and soil microorganisms. We’ve covered some important methods that disrupt this, and some key principles that encourage soil health. Now, quizzing shop keepers about production methods, can often be unhelpful. Although, involving them in understanding why might well engage them more in their choices of suppliers. Of course, having access to local farms can give better insight into this.  

Production trumps transport and packaging

Shorter chains are often more transparent

Certification helps, especially when longer chains or international products are involved

Local is not always best

Sourcing our food does not need to mean boycotting our local shop, but instead talking to them

Finding alternatives

We might prioritise our local community and endeavour to buy locally produced products, purely because they are locally made. Our food choices might be primarily based on price, where the cheapest items are prioritised. 

And different situations demand different approaches. Some of us find ourselves very far from the source of our food. It can be geographical, for example living in a busy city centre with very little contact with farms. It can be financial, where food choices might be based on price at all times, with little room for attention to where the food is coming from. 

Now a shopkeeper, a café owner or a restauranteur is a middle hand of food, they are moving food from producers to consumers. 

What is consumer power? 

There are different ways to exercise our power as consumers. 

Talking and listening to local farmers – keeping an open mind, respecting that farmers are specialists in what they do, but can be affected by a number of other factors including intergenerational inheritance of methods and knowledge, financial pressures, regulations and local agricultural culture, but that if you’re not a farmer yourself, you will also have limitations in understanding and the key here is to actively listen and introduce ideas in a generous and sensitive way. Also supporting farmers who are trying to make positive change, buy from them, recommend them, ask you local supermarket to stock their produce etc. On garden scale, it can be quite easy, time-saving and economical with quick and visible results to implement the four principles discussed in this course, but on a farm scale, the transition can take time, more labour, change in ways of working, risk of crop loss to begin with, shift in mindset which can be hard depending on what community support is available as well as professional support. 

Not just about direct consumption, but also restaurants, cafés, work places, schools and residential homes. By asking where ingredients come from, we are sending a message that this matters, and hopefully also awakening questions in those running the establishment. 

Bionutrient institute in the United States, 

Coming up? 

Will we be buying food based on nutrient content rather than weight in future? How will this impact on farming methods?