I was dumbfounded to know that Rome's conquest of new territory was based on a need to secure "grain, not political gain" (Steel, 2013). It makes sense that food security is essential for an expanding city's survival, but for some reason until I now I didn't connect the two.
The process in which our food is acquired is not a new phenomenon. This occurred in Europe hundreds of years prior to now, however, agribusinesses have added a new spin to the market that will have lasting effects. To be honest, I can see why someone would want to give up instead of trying to change our current food system because this is not the first time we've been here. We've been warned of the harmful effects of creating this vicious cycle where we are dependent upon a global market.
Developing countries that were mostly vegetarian, not due to religious beliefs, but based on the lack of opportunity, are now starting to follow suit. To learn that the Amazon rainforest is being cut down for farmland to grow "soya" to support China is alarming. All of this has an impact on the quality of the food provided, our ecosystems and natural resources. What will it take to derail this train? We are losing the genetic diversity in crops in order to meet the global demand placed on our food systems. Even with the growing amount of food we are producing, people are still hungry all over the world. I'm fearful of our future! To be honest, I don't currently have a simple solution to such a complex problem, but I hope through our continued efforts to educate our communities on where our food comes from, to increase our lobbying efforts to develop policies that will support healthier food options for all and to support our local food systems will bring about the necessary changes before it's too late.
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