tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12126432.post3561297828718753106..comments2023-10-29T03:07:29.951-05:00Comments on left cheek: Eating Local - The Necessityjasdyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17492591447246532970noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12126432.post-74474926704771788102011-09-26T19:21:05.770-05:002011-09-26T19:21:05.770-05:00Jason thank you so much for a great article. As yo...Jason thank you so much for a great article. As you probably know I made a life style change on July 25 of this year to go vegetarian with a goal of going vegan sometime in the future with the permission of my cardiologist. I agree with the premise of your argument. Peace brother.lazZalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02842611510259857094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12126432.post-49095647296982053302011-09-26T14:28:52.951-05:002011-09-26T14:28:52.951-05:00I do not believe that local food sovereignty and s...I do not believe that local food sovereignty and sustainable communities can be achieved without tackling the chief economic obstacle, namely, the fact that land and productive assets are priced as a function of the most profitable uses that the owners can engage in, and the fact that the most profitable uses invariably turn out to be those which harness massive quantities of past solar energy stored in fossil fuels. This fact is the reason why most of us are struggling to pay the rent or mortgage, and cannot afford local food. Sustainable lifestyles limited to the use of regular solar income generally produce even less exchange value with which to pay the mortgage. Capitalism has thus sequestered all the best land for the uses which keep money flowing to the top via unsustainable economic activities, while keeping the masses dependent on participation in unsustainable economic activities just to barely get by. But prohibiting the extraction and use of fossil fuels and other harmful economic activities would level the economic playing field, bringing land prices within reach of those seeking to live sustainably. Active efforts to assert social control over the economy, as by adopting democratic economic planning, would further seal the deal. We also need to radically alter our city planning models so as to promote optimal proximity of people, processes, and resources in order to effectively localize our economies. Virtually nobody is proposing this - there is little financial or career incentive for architects and planners, even the "green" ones who propose relatively minor tweaks to the physical configuration of consumer capitalism, to think in such radical terms. Individual and incremental efforts to, say, buy local food will accomplish relatively little on their own. We must ante up to deal with the larger issues in a concerted, non-incremental way.Stevennoreply@blogger.com