“This productivity means Joel’s pastures will like his woodlots, remove thousands of pounds of carbon from the atmosphere each year…In fact grassing over that portion of the world’s cropland now being used to grow grain to feed ruminants would offset fossil fuel emissions appreciably…equivalent of taking four million cars off the road.” – pg 198
Some people don’t want the government to subsidize environmental restoration because they feel that they’re tax dollars wouldn’t be helping them. What if the government subsidized both farms and the environment? The problem is that enacting legislation to give farmers the initiative in producing eco-restorative products would no doubt result in the loss of America’s throne in the world food market. Once farming looses it scope of commodity the government wants nothing to do with it. The USDA inspector views the pastoral narrative of small, local and healthy meet production as a “waste of time.” (pg. 246)
As a species we are apparently the soul pioneer and conquer of the “cognitive niche.” (pg 294). When looking at fast food chains I understand how we as a species are able to produce the edible out of the inedible. Yet when we eat and grow food in industrious ways cognition is rarely afforded to the individual consumer. As an omnivore we are designed to question our food source. Yet only recently in our omnivorous history was fast food added to our diet.
It is my opinion that, one way or another, we humans will be ousted from the cognitive niche if we do not change our eating habits. We who do not grow our own food should not eat what ever is laid down in front of us. There are major cultural stories of distrust for food. For example the poisonous apple: the fruit which felled both Eden and Snow white. Yet these days it seems now that it should have been written as the double cheese burger of knowledge or poisonous French fries concocted by a deceitful witch. Because our eating habits have drastically changed our old cultural tales don’t always fit.