Made in the USA

Wednesday I posed the question to you that Michael Pollan asked in his book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”. I think that is a very interesting question and like I said, one that could go many ways, but the way that I like to think about it is this … what would our country (or any country for that matter) look like without farms?

If we ever got to the point where we imported all of our food (not going to happen, but let us just be hypothetical for the moment) just take a second to think about what the countryside would look like. I bet we would probably see sprawling cities, McMansion’s for the wealthy, slum areas for the not wealthy, and lots and lots of pavement. Of course we would still have our “wild areas” that we go and visit to get away from it all, but most Americans probably wouldn’t have much connection at all with the land … and none with the food they eat.

But, go beyond what things would “look” like and think about how an import only food system would effect our society at large. Actually, I don’t think we have to do much imagination on this one, just check out how Americans have gone up and down with the price of gas and oil the past few years. If our food was mostly imported just as our fuel is than think of the drastic price swings that could hit everyone.

And one more thing… Think of the basis of this country. Like it or not our country was founded as an agrarian society with strong ties to the land and all that it could produce for the people here and those to come. I really believe that those ties to the farm (or plantation or whatever) that our founding fathers had is one of the many things that drove this country to success. If we just began importing it all … well, then I think we would be forgetting what got us this far.