of us having bought into the message of supporting our
local producers. Again, it comes down to being informed
and exercising our most potent influence: buying power.DESIGNANDMARKETHEALTHIERFOODPRODUCTS
It’senvisagedthatfoodproductscanbedesignedwithhealthin
mindthroughoutthechain,fromthesourcetothediningtable.
Thiswouldincludepromotingbiodiversitybybroadeningthe
plant-basedingredientsusedasprotein– by-productssuch
asskincollectedfromtofu-makingtomakemockchook,
forinstance– anddesigningpackagingthat’scompostable.
Aspowerfulasdesignis,there’sstillthesimpleapproach:
cookingfromscratchandbuyingunpackagedfood.MAKETHEMOSTOFFOOD
A thirdoffoodproducedgloballyis wasted.Thefoundation
envisionscitiesascentresofa dynamicbioeconomy,notsimply
a finaldestinationforfood,whereeverythingfromorganic
fertiliserstobioenergyarecreatedfromwasteandby-products.
Butwecantakesimpleactionsourselvestoreducethewaste.
In thesamewaywe’vetakentobuyinguglyfruitandvegetables,
so,too,weshouldpickupthosediscountedsoon-to-expire
bargainsandseasonalglutsofproduceforpreserving.Weshould
beawareofwhat’sin ourfridge,whenfoodsneedtobeeaten
andhowbesttostoreproduce.Resurrectingleftoversandthe
guiltypleasureofthefridgebuffetshouldbecongratulated.
There’snoshamein frugalityortheoddoutlandishcombination- waste-savingis thenewvirtue.
TravellingtoSãoPaulofeltlikea stretch,evenwithgood
intentionsandcarbonoffsetting.Buthavingspenttimewith
Atalaandhisteamin 2018,I knewtherewouldbevaluableand
memorablemomentsthata videolinkjustcan’tdeliver– quotes
andconversationsthatcontinuetoresonate.Hoursbeforemy
flighthomeI satwithAtalain a hotellobby.“Wedon’townthe
truth,”hesaid,pausing.“Weopenspaceforpeoplemaybeto
rethinknewpointsofviewfromthesameproblem.”If everwe
neededtorethink,nowis thetime.
Pollancodifiedanapproachtoeatingbyurgingusto“Eatfood.
Nottoomuch.Mostlyplants.”In thesameway,threecoresteps
cantransformourfoodsystemfroma cityperspective.SOURCEFOODGROWNREGENERATIVELYANDLOCALLY
Regenerativefarmingusesmethodssuchasrotationalgrazing,
permacultureprinciplesandagroforestry.Butyoucan’ttellwhat’s
beenusedbysimplylookingat produce.Questionretailersand
producers.In a digitalworldit’sneverbeeneasiertoask.
We’reseeinga risein urbanagriculturewiththelikesof
larger-scaleaquaponicsandverticalfarming.It’sredefiningwhat
wethinkofaslocal.Whileonlysupplyinga minutepercentageof
foodneeds– oftenleafygreensandmushrooms– it givesa vision
ofurbancapabilities.Thefoundation’sdefinitionoflocalincludes
theperi-urbanarea,anareawithin 20 kilometresofa city,where
it estimatesthat 40 percentoftheworld’scroplandexists.In an
Australiancontext,withourfar-flunggrowingregions,ournotion
oflocalmaybedifferent,butwe’realreadyontheway,withmany“IT COMES DOWN TO
EXERCISING OUR MOST
POTENT INFLUENCE:
B U Y I N G P OWE R .”
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