August Challenge: Week Three

For our August Challenge this past Saturday, K and I went with some friends to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.  While the National Park system has some great-looking programming at the dunes throughout the year, we went for the beach.  Much of the drive was through beautiful scenic woods and along a more undeveloped lakeshore than available in the city, making this a great destination for many Chicagoans who want to get away from the crowded city beaches.  It was a beautiful day and we weren’t the only one’s taking advantage of the hot beach and refreshing lake.

As we started down to the beach after parking, we saw the beautiful color of the lake and could make out the skyline of Chicago on the far shore.  We were surprised, though, as we noticed the huge steel mills directly west on the lakeshore, and then again as we looked to the east and saw steam billowing from a nuclear reactor.  The stretch of beach we were on was a protected National Lakeshore, but it seemed that just outside of that protection the industrial world was booming.

A quick Google search revealed that there has been a century-long struggle between the preservation of the Indiana Dunes and the unchecked development of the shoreline.  Thirteen of the forty-five miles of lakeshore are currently protected, but what impact might the industry on either side of that thirteen miles have on the greater ecosystem?  Might it be possible to make better and more sustainable use of the natural resources that exist on the lakeshore?

My burnt back is testament to the power of the sun in the area, and from the beach I noticed two private residences with windmills to supplement their energy use.  If industry and development along the lakeshore were reduced, couldn’t we harness the power of the sun through solar panels and wind-turbines that would have minimal negative impact on the dune ecosystem?

Overall, our day at the beach was wonderful.  The water was cool, but not so cold that we couldn’t float at the sandbar and play in the swells that tumbled into the shore.  Having lived so close to Lake Michigan for most of my life, I often take for granted time spent on the beach.  This weekend reminded me, though, that while I might sometimes overlook the restfulness that the lake can offer, it’s important to never disregard the impact of how we choose to be a part of any ecosystem.

Imagine no…

Imagine no industrial agriculture.  No monocrops depleting the soil of its nutrients, no politics driving food production, no unsafe nor unsanitary conditions for farm workers and animals.  Imagine instead that your kitchen is full of a variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, dairy, eggs and meat; that each time you sit down for a meal you know where and how each ingredient was grown, and that you are eating the freshest and most healthful ingredients for the season.  Imagine that these ingredients also had a positive impact on the quality-of-life of all involved in the food system, from the farm workers, to the animals in their care, to yourself, and to the land on which the food was grown.

Rising food prices and regular threats of unsafe meat and produce are evidence that the industrial agriculture system is collapsing.  Organic food has come into vogue in the US, but coupled with a refusal to shift one’s mindset away from that of the consumer, a large portion of the organic food available in supermarkets today still comes from industrial farms that require energy-intensive farming practices.  Local, sustainable agriculture is a necessity, and requires a shift in how one views food supply.

My partner, K, and I this year bought into a local farm’s Community-Supported Agriculture program (CSA).  Each week we walk to our neighborhood farmer’s market and bring home a pre-paid half-bushel of their locally-grown organic produce.  We see the people who grew our food face-to-face each week, and we experience first-hand what nature has to offer as the growing season progresses, and what recent weather patterns have meant for the crop.  Participating in a CSA was an important decision that K and I made months before we would be getting any of the food we paid for.  It was a decision that has led to wonderful experiences as we explore and learn about vegetables that we had never cooked before, and a decision that has begun to shift our thoughts away from earlier notions of food as a product that follows the patterns of supply and demand to food as a fragile necessity that depends on the well-being of an ecosystem that we too often neglect.

Changing habits and changing the way we think about food can be a difficult process, but go back to the imagined image of fresh, healthy, sustainable food; now find out where your local co-op or farmer’s market is located, ask your grocery store to stock local produce, or find an area where you can start your own food garden and make that image a reality.  Imagine no industrial agriculture.

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Per a call for ideas from solutions-based online magazine, WorldChanging, this entry explores “the end of some outdated aspect of contemporary society and its replacement with a better way of doing things.”  Read more about the challenge here.