There's a classic bluegrass fiddle/mando tune called Whiskey For Breakfast. I've played the song dozens of times, but only a few occasions have I actually had whiskey for breakfast. Honestly, I prefer granola or a fried egg and toast.
Anyway, as it turns out, no matter what I have for breakfast, whether it be of the free-range hormone-free variety, or of the twelve-year-old black label variety, what I'm really eating is petroleum.
This recent article from the SF Chron. does a great job to illustrate the connection between our diets and the fossil-fuel-derived energetic requirements for providing us with nutrition. Apparently it takes about 7 calories of fossil energy to produce 1 calorie of food energy -- not such a good tradeoff. This makes clear the urgency of humans' transition to some kind of sustainable food system.
Josh,
ReplyDeleteWe could begin to grow some of our own food. But that is dependent on the climate where you live. Unless you build a greenhouse. But there goes the fossil fuel again. So, what are we to do? Perhaps select wisely, eat healthy foods, and compost the waste products. At least that way we would be putting back a little of what we took out.
Mom