The Union of Concerned Scientists cites food production as second only to transportation in degrading our environment, with meat the major factor, accounting for 25%t of threats to natural ecosystems. This is how:

Global Warming: Burning fossil fuel creates carbon dioxide (CO2), the main cause of global warming. This is an integral part of meat processing, including transportation and pnd manure, generate huge amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more powerful than CO2. Finally, millions of acres of rain forest have been cleared for meat production, devastating one of the world’s great resources for removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

Water Supply: About 18% of the world’s water is used for livestock feed, including enormous amounts for irrigation. To produce one pound of beef requires 2,500 gallons of water, the equivalent of 500 showers. Aquifers and surface water all over the world are in serious jeopardy of depletion, which could turn now-productive farmland into dust bowls. Many scientists believe water will surpass energy in the near future as humanity’s most serious shortage.

Water and Air Pollution: The sheer amount of manure produced by livestock, two billion tons a year, is wreaking havoc on the environment. One gas generated from manure, hydrogen sulfide, causes illness ranging from sore throats to seizures. Manure from factory farms of pigs and chickens contaminates drinking water and has already caused several disease outbreaks and millions of fish deaths.

Marine Ecosystems: In the last 40 years, the number of fisheries fully exploited, over-exploited or collapsed has risen from five percent to 60 percent. Some fish, including Atlantic cod and haddock, have almost disappeared. Like any other species, devastation to one will affect the entire food chain.

One hundred years ago, people ate fruit, vegetables, meat and milk that more often than not were produced just down the road or at least near where they lived. Today most food travels thousand of miles between the farm and the family dining room table. Consumer supported agriculture (CSA) is a nationwide movement to promote the connection between local food for local consumers. An 18-month study of the Southwest Colorado food scene by a partnership of five local organizations shows there is growing consumer interest in CSA, but consumer appetite appears to be far ahead of what is being produced. In Southwest Colorado, as well as the rest of the nation, CSA has fallen off during past decades for reasons to include: pressure to develop cropland; industrialization of food supply; globalization of markets and subsidized energy.

SOS Related Activities:
CSA was the SOS’s theme for 2008 environmental programming. The series began with an environmental cinema showing of “Heart and Soil”, a film featuring 4 corners farmers and producers including two from Pagosa Springs, made by Durango filmmaker Mara LeGrand. 100 in attendance at the Liberty Theatre in downtown Pagosa. A panel of local growers and gardeners discussing the challenges of successful gardening in the Pagosa area. Panelists: Dixie Neuman of Piedra Farms; Udgar Parsons of Growing Spaces; and Richard Mlller a home gardener.

The outcome of the work session included, but was not limited to:

• Community garden work and promotion;
• Development of a local CSA directory;
• Farmers market work and promotion;
• Geothermal heated greenhouse community garden/demonstration project; and
• Work with local schools to get more locally grown food on to the menu.

What you can do...

• Join and support SOS activities with a $10 per year membership fee.
• Join the SOS CSA Subcommittee (see contact information below).
• Commit to going one or more days a week without eating any meat or fish.
• Eat at least five meals a week that include local fruits or vegetables.
• Eat at least five meals a week that include organic food.
• Support meat growers who use sustainable growing practices.

Related Facts:

• In the US, 70% of grain is fed to animals.
• Many third-world nations have converted farmland that once grew food for their own citizens to produce feed for livestock exported to Western nations. This is a significant loss of potential food for the world’s hungry.
• Approximately one billion people (one out of six humans on the planet) don’t have enough to eat.
• Every year, 60,000,000 people starve to death or die of nutrition-related diseases.
• The causes of world hunger are complex, but include poverty, distribution, political problems and meat production.

Contact:

If you have questions about CSA, and/or would like to join SOS to develop programming in this area, the lead contact is Abby Linzie. Email or call her at 970-731-6412.

Related Books:
“Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, A Year of Food Life” by Barbara Kingsolver.
“Deep Economy” by Bill McKibben.
“Eat Here” by Brian Halwell.
“End of Nature” by Bill McKibben.
“(The) Food Revolution, Diet for a New America.”
“(The) Green Consumer” by John Elkington.
“Local Flavors” by Deborah Madison.
“(The) Omnivore’s Dilemma, A Natural History of Four Meals” by Michael Pollen.

Related Articles:
To obtain a copy of any of the following original articles contact SOS:

Sans petrol (High Country News)
Local food supplies bring sustainability to the dinner table (Durango Herald)
Novelist takes family along on adventure in eating locally (May 13, 2007—Denver Post)
To market, to market (May 13, 2007—Denver Post)
Local production (May 2, 2007—Durango Herald)
Town gears up for a Mancos Farmer’s Market (April 25, 2007—Mancos Times)
Imagination sprouts on vertical farm (April 21, 2007—Rocky Mountain News)
Grocery chains feed appetite for organic food across nation (April 21, 2007—Durango Herald)
Eat fresh and help locals (March 24, 2007—Durango Herald)
My search for the perfect apple (March 12, 2007—Time Magazine)
Whole Foods reaches out to local growers (March 2007—Colorado Biz)
Local food program focuses on schools (February 15, 2007—Durango Herald)
Rebuilding resilience (February 11, 2007—Denver Post)
Emulating nature (February 1, 2007—Durango Herald)
Perverse agricultural plan hurts land and farms December 10, 2006—Durango Herald)
Protected environment growing systems (Winter 2007—Natural Highs)
Eating green—the case for a plant-based diet (September 2006—Nutrition Action Healthletter)

Related Films:
[If you are interested in any of the films referenced here, check with SOS—many are available from their lending library:

“The Future of Food”
“The Real Dirt About Farmer John”

Related Links:
www.angelicorganics.com
Farmer John’s web site
www.attra.ncat.org
Sustainable growing and marketing
www.eatwellguide.org
A guide to markets, restaurants, farms
www.eco-farm.org
www.ecoliteracy.org
www.environment.nau.edu/index.html Directory for Colorado Plateau
www.farmtoschool.org The National Farm to School Network
www.foodnotlawns.com
www.foodroutes.org
www.garden.org
www.kitchengardeners.org
www.localharvest.org
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
www.organiccolorado.org
www.pathtofreedom.com
Southwest Organization for Sustainability in Pagosa
www.swmarketingnetwork.org
www.sustainableswcolorado.org Farm to School and the Southwest Colorado food assessment
www.verticalfarm.com