Inspiring writer, and passionate sustainable farmer, David Mas Masumoto, shares his views on farming, on life, and the inherent tensions that arise, the “creative edge,” from the art of writing, and of being a farmer.
Filmed in May 2010 at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s, Cooking For Solutions: Sustainable Foods Institute media conference, Mr. Masumoto
In the video below from his publisher, Simon and Schuster, Mas Masumoto shares a passage from his latest book, Wisdom of the Last Farmer:
Excerpted from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s, Cooking For Solutions 2010 media conference, Paul Hawken eloquently explains how the price of food is divorced from its true costs, and what this really means for society, at large.
This is a central theme that runs through much of the sustainable food movement’s core beliefs, and those advocating a profound change to the existing structure of the food system. Michael Pollan, in his 2008 “Open Letter to the Next Farmer In Chief“, writes:
“Food policy is not something American presidents have had to give much thought to, at least since the Nixon administration— the last time high food prices presented a serious political peril. Since then, federal policies to promote maximum production of the commodity crops (corn, soybeans, wheat and rice) from which most of our supermarket foods are derived have succeeded impressively in keeping prices low and food more or less off the national political agenda.”
Indeed, the massive consolidation of agricultural food companies into giant transnational corporations may well trace its origins to Nixon’s Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz, whose prime directive was to develop a plan to keep U.S. food prices at a reliably low level. With the recent decision of the Department of Justice to investigate the mounting evidence of over-consolidation of the food industry, it seems fair to ask whether the pendulum of centralization, maximization of production, monoculture industrial farming, and the existence of mega-farms (technically referred to as CAFO’s), has shifted the pendulum too far.
The high cost of cheap food begs a serious question: who should foot the bill to cover the full external costs of industrial farming—the American people, as has largely been the case—or the corporations who chiefly benefit from the existing structure?
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Cooking For Solutions Sustainable Foods Institute annual conference, a two day event for the media to promote learning and discussion around the many issues that impact food and sustainability issues. This year’s talks and panel discussions brought together an eclectic mix of scientific experts, environmental journalists, top sustainability chefs, science authors, and others to discuss the state of the ocean’s health, climate change, aquaculture, sustainable fishing and agriculture practices, genetic engineering, the obesity epidemic, and much more.
The Sustainable Foods Institute is a part of the Cooking For Solutions Celebration, a public event designed to foster better awareness between the food we eat, and its effect upon the environment. It’s also an opportunity to sample fabulous sustainably produced foods, wines, and organic foods, watch cooking demonstrations, and walk among the many fish exhibits that make the aquarium a world-class ocean museum.
Stay tuned for the upcoming release of full length talks and panel discussions from the 2010 Sustainable Foods Institute conference.
Part 6: Carlo Petrini, in this final installment, argues for economic respect, and fairness to the small farmers of the world. Economy and ecology, he reminds us, share the same roots, and that it is local economies that will save our society, and it’s the global economy that threatens to destroy it. For those who may think of Slow Food in terms of being an organization striving to promote better conditions for farmers, and better awareness for people about the food they eat—while true—the ideas laid out by this founding visionary are a trumpet call for an entirely new world order.