Revised Abstract

It has been a long time since I actually posted any of my own work on here, so here is a revised thesis abstract.

WE ARE WHAT WE EAT
Toronto is simultaneously a city of abundance and ignorance; within its limits urbanites can find essentially any ingredient they desire at any time of the year, but it is placeless food. We don’t know where it came from or how it got here. Even as the city becomes more gastronomically educated, its residents are forgetting the basics about where and how food actually grows and what hidden costs lie behind the exotic or off-season food we have continual access to. How has a city so discerning and knowledgeable about food become so disconnected from the system that we have forgotten the cliché, we are what we eat?

Dependent on global imports and rapid product movement, Toronto’s food system is no longer self-reliant. Fifty years ago the majority of Toronto’s food came from within 350km of the city (Lister 2008, 164). Now over 60 percent comes from the United States, and the rest from a host of countries worldwide. The population of the Greater Toronto Area is projected to grow to 7.45 million by 2031 (Toronto City Council 2000). Will a system dependent on external sources of food be able to handle the population increase? In order to reestablish autonomy and provide for the growing population, the creation of a local infrastructural network able to move food from regional farms into the city is vital. Furthermore, a sustainable, local food system would benefit the city in myriad ways; supporting the local agricultural economy, generating regional jobs in the farming, distribution and retail sectors, and providing a supply of healthy food for city residents.

McDonalds Closes Due to High Cost of Importing Food

Here is a recent article from Bloomberg News regarding the closing of McDonalds restaurants in Iceland. The McDonalds chain, which imports the majority of the products served in its Icelandic restaurants, is no longer able to compete with local restaurants who source food locally. The high price of imports (which have doubled over the last year) has been related to the global recession. The islands currency disintegrated last year after its three major banks collapsed due to massive debt loads.

An Insult to History

This short video is a presentation made by Dan Barber, a chef and scholar, as part of the 2008 Taste3 conference, telling a story of his experience traveling to meet a foie gras farmer in Spain, who has been raising foie gras naturally. His take on the current foie gras production methods, which he makes reference to at the end of the clip, can be applied to the entire industrial agriculture industry today, as an insult to history or, "an insult to the basic laws of nature and of biology."

His advice, to stop treating the planet as a business and degrading resources in the guise of cheap food is essentially what I am also trying to say in my thesis. The truth is that the most ethical food choices are also the most ecological, and they do taste the best... and most often, they are also grown in the same place that they are eaten.

Please take a few minutes and watch this video if you are interested. It's a really great argument for local, ethical eating.