Well if we are what we eat then this guy must be incredibly healthy and the yet he has the grotesque air of a carnival sideshow and I think that is why this painting and the ones below have always held a bizarre fascination for me. The works of Italian artist Guiseppe Arcimboldo are arguably the product of a deranged mind but I find them arrestingly thought provoking. They provide a poignant visual reminder that we are what we eat and what we eat is surely one of the most important decisions we can make in this day and age.
With the enormous challenge of global warming, ethical eating is a subject that I believe will increasingly demand the attention of all those who choose to live in an environmentally friendly way, as the decision about what we eat has bigger environmental repercussions that any other we make. The food choices we currently make are responsible for contributing to 37% of our greenhouse gas emissions.
These facts come from Shane Heaton, organic researcher in Australia –
- 18% of greenhouse emissions come from the livestock industry.
- We eat five times more meat than we did in 1950.
- If every single household in the US ate one meat free meal a week it would be the equivalent of taking 20 million cars off the road a year.
- A days worth of food for a meat eater takes three times as much water to produce as does that for a vegetarian.
- The average Australian household spends more on alcohol a week than they do on fresh vegetables.
I have been pleased to see Michelle Obama setting the example of incorporating a meatless meal in the Whitehouse every week. She has also planted a veggie garden in the Whitehouse sending a simple but effective message.
As Michael Pollan, author of Ominvores Dilemna puts it, "At a time of economic crisis, a garden can provide a surprisingly large amount of fresh, healthy produce but just as important, it teaches important habits of mind - helping people to reconnect with their food, eat more healthily on a budget and recognize that we're less dependent on the industrial food chain, and cheap fossil fuel, than we assume."
While not all of us have a place to plant a veggie garden we can bring our minds to further important questions about our food. Is it being produced in a sustainable way? Is it organic? Can I even afford to pay for organic produce which is mostly so very expensive? Can I afford not to? Is it better to buy local non organic produce or organic which has been flown in from half way across the world? The current thought apparently is that buying local non organic is a better environmental choice.
And then there is the current world food crisis. While farming in the West is controlled by big conglomerates, farmers in some places are actually paid not to grow food. In developing countries most of the world's poor are found in rural communities. According to Shane Heaton, the small farmer will play a big role in meeting future needs for food both in these communities and those of the West as the need to avoid the fuel emissions and the costs of transportation increases. Helping farmers in these communities to adopt sustainable farming practices and biodiversity will ensure a better future supply of food for these countries and we can add our support by purchasing products with fair trade labels. Shopping for fresh fruit and veggies at local farmer's markets supports the local farmers.
As for biodiversity, the very fact that we have needed to build a place such as Svalbard, the doomsday vault for seeds on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen says it all.
So while I leave you to ponder over the question of whether ethical eating is a luxury or a necessity I ready myself for a trip to Spinney’s my local supermarket where my apples come from China, potatoes from Saudi, onions from Spain or India, lemons from South Africa, Strawberries from the USA, grapes from Chile, lentils from Canada, cheese from Australia, etc etc. Such is life here in Dubai.
Ah Guiseppe, if you were here would you be inspired to make a new painting I wonder? I'm thinking it could be a person made of a collage of all the maps of the world pushing the "we are what we eat" concept one step further to reflect geography. The cells of my body are nourished by the produce of so many countries of the earth. I am truly Chinese American Syrian Indian Australian Filipino etc. What an environmentally nightmarish cocktail!
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