Sifting through the distractions
Before the Cutting Board: September 30, 2024
Hey there,
In a 1975 commencement speech, writer Toni Morrison said to her audience:
“It’s important…to know who the real enemy is, and to know…the very serious function of racism, which is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining over and over again, your reason for being.”
That quote came during a portion of the speech when Toni Morrison was asserting the claim that Black people are inferior was an obvious pretense propagated intentionally in many insidious ways to make us think - or be distracted from excellence by the idea - that we are.
I’ve been thinking about these words a lot lately, especially in the US as the most intense period of our election season approaches and amid the reflections after another Climate Week. The context of the quote is important, and a very real part of our lived experience. And sometimes it feels like this idea of ‘distraction’ is reverberating through many of the challenges we face. The feeling of having to constantly sift through what is distraction or extraneous noise, and what is the actual meaningful solution. What are the core causes of a given problem - like our food system’s role in a changing climate - and who benefits when we’re distracted from trying to answer that. How do you get back on track when there are persistent and tough distractions? Let me know if and when you figure it out, I’m still working on it.
Welcome back to Before the Cutting Board, your monthly roundup of food + supply chain hot topics to help keep you up to speed on what’s going on with your food.
Let’s dig in.
-This Month-
Reading the fine print
Leading up to Climate Week, Civil Eats took a closer look at agriculture-based emissions trends in the EPA’s latest inventory of domestic greenhouse gas emissions and sinks. One of the main highlights was a 2% drop in agricultural based emissions between 2021 and 2022, mostly attributed to a reduction in cattle numbers and fertilizer use. As is the case generally with pandemic-era emissions drops, the reductions were not necessarily intentional and can be attributed more so to system shocks. For example, extreme drought conditions making it difficult for ranchers to consistently access feed, and the fertilizer supply chain disruptions that occurred as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The arguably forced emissions drop ironically underscores the urgency of implementing climate solutions in the food system and transforming industrial agriculture. Cattle ranching isn’t inherently bad for the environment. But the intensity at which it’s done in high volume producing countries is fueling a climate and an ecosystem crisis. The cyclical nature of climate change, coupled with constant geopolitical chaos that shakes globalized supply chains, means that the longer we wait to intentionally build resilience, the more intensely the people reliant upon those supply chains will feel the impact.
Climate solutions, big and small
Also in the days before Climate Week, NPR released a series of engaging stories on climate solutions that intersect with food systems. The pieces cover challenges and opportunities stretching across the entire food supply chain, from crop and seed science to household food waste reduction and diversion.
I’ve written a bit about how my perspective on individual responsibility has shifted over the last two years. Working at a place where very large amounts of people consume very high volumes of food everyday has impacted my understanding of the role that each of those people play in supporting food systems change. We can continue to hold key organizations and institutions accountable for their role in systemic change, while also recognizing that the choices we make either contribute to or resist that system. Acknowledging that not everyone has a choice in an inequitable system means that the responsibility is greater for those of us who do. The writers who contributed to this series did a great job of interrogating the systemic nature of food’s contribution to the climate crisis, while making it clear what pathways to real change exist.
Food Choices
Two podcast episodes this month made my recently doubled daily commute more bearable. They both cover the role that food marketing plays in the ways our food supply chains become structured, the choices we make, and the policy that reinforces both of those dynamics.
Men, Beef, and a Climate Solution from NPR’s Up First
How we Got Milk from Vox Explain it to Me [this actually came out in May, but I found it in September so voilà]
What Else I’m Reading:
Harvest Public Media had some great farm and supply chain pieces this month covering
Shallow water levels in the Mississippi River are holding up grain traffic - 60% of all grain exported out of the US travels down the river
That’s it for this month. If you enjoyed reading this, please forward to a friend. Even if you didn’t enjoy reading it, still tell your friends - misery loves company :)
The rate of distractions is intensifying…