Just Food
Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly
By: James E. McWilliams
Published: August 26, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
ISBN: 9780316033749
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
"Eating local is not, in and of itself, a viable answer to sustainable food production on a global level", writes Professor of History at Texas State University-San Marcos and award winning agricultural thinker James E. McWilliams in his visionary and thought provoking book Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly. The author makes a compelling case, that neither locally oriented organic farming or conventional chemical based agriculture, can solve the intensifying global food problem. In their place, the book provides the groundwork for a more balanced approach that takes the best features of both agricultural systems, and combines them to provide a viable third option for solving world hunger.
James McWilliams understands that many myths and outright propaganda, surround both organic farming movement and conventional chemical based food production. The author points out that he is a long time supporter of eating ethically and of supporting organically grown food. At the same time, James McWilliams demonstrates that many of most cherished beliefs and ideals of organic agriculture are just myths. In that mythology, he includes the fallacy of calculating food miles and the mistaken belief that accepted organic pest control is safe for people and the environment. On the other side of the coin, the author takes conventional, chemical based production to task for its waste of resources and environmental degradation, and its emphasis on growing crops that are not intended for human consumption.
James E. McWilliams (photo left) recognizes that the discussion about food production has become very polarized with organic purists on one side and conventional agriculture supporters on the other. in order to break through this extreme division, the author proposes what he calls the Golden Mean, where he recommends combining the best features of local, organic farming with the best practices of mainstream chemical based production. James McWilliams provides evidence that local production, supported by who he calls locavores, can't begin to meet the global demand for food that is rising with population growth. At the same time, he describes how the solutions offered by conventional chemical based agriculture are scientifically, ecologically, and ethically bankrupt. This divisive situation, with neither side speaking to the other, is what the author addresses effectively in the book.
For me, the power of the book is how James McWilliams isn't afraid to tackle the most controversial topics, and offer solutions that fly in their face of the conventional wisdom of both the organic and chemical based communities. For example, he sees the much maligned genetically modified plants and fish species are lowering chemical dependency, as well as lowering strain on depleted pastures by cattle. Indeed, one of his more stunning suggestions is replacing meat in the diet with aquaculturally reared fish. A very far reaching recommendation involves the elimination of all farm subsidies, which the author views as perverse and counterproductive for food production, and actively encourage damage to the environment. The author's purpose is to get people to think differently, from the polarized and antagonistic positions, of both organic supporters and chemical based agricultural adherents.
I highly recommend the challenging and often controversial book Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly by James E. McWilliams, to anyone seeking practical and workable solutions to improving both local food supplies and for feeding the world as a whole. The author openly challenges the mythology that has grown up around food production from the increasingly polarized organic and conventional camps. The book provides a framework, and proposes real solutions, for taking the best of both worlds, while discarding the less desirable practices of both food production systems. In the end, the author hopes to encourage a balanced approach to addressing global food requirements.
Read the important book Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly by James E. McWilliams, and discover a fresh approach to food justice and ecologically responsible production and eating. Not everyone will agree with the author's conclusions or recommendations, but his sincerity and dedication to finding solutions to the world food crisis are unimpeachable. James McWilliams provides a powerful starting point for opening discussion between the diametrically opposed factions of organic producers and conventional chemical farming supporters. That worthy goal, if achieved, is a powerful first step toward feeding a growing world population ethically, and for maintaining the health of the environment as well.
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