Musings: Chew On It

Tired, left ankle hurting, I nonetheless went out into the splendid fresh cool of last evening to view the sky as a crescent moon was slipping down toward the mountains. The golden sliver illuminated the shadowed whole, offering a reminder that it doesn't take much light to expose the darkness. Directly above the moon, Mars, Saturn and a star in the constellation Virgo came together to form a perfect upside down triangle. While marveling at this, a meteor shot across the heavens, from south to north, leaving behind a thick white streak that dissipated with a visual sizzle and from me, an audible ahhhhh.

I lingered a while longer, and thought, yes, if you just make the effort to go outside and look, you will always be rewarded.

So strange, that in today's world we have to remember to check out the sky, the primary source of inspiration, direction, guidance, awe and spiritual sustenance for humans since we walked the planet.

And so strange the way we've abandoned the fundamental premise that food is sacred. I was thinking about that today when reading an article about yet another disgustingly inhumane slaughterhouse exposed by a worker's video.

I mean, just compare the kanaka maoli, with a creation story that involves that dietary staple kalo (taro), to the average American, whose diet is comprised primary of tortured animals, and highly-processed, genetically-engineered and pesticide-sprayed grains and produce.

Oh, and since we're on the topic of pesticides, consider these new scientific findings on chlorpyrifos, one of the most widely used insecticides in agriculture:

[E]vidence in MRI scans that even low to moderate levels of exposure during pregnancy may lead to long-term, potentially irreversible changes in the brain. Boys appear to be more vulnerable than girls; lower IQs seen in boys exposed in the womb to comparable amounts of the chemical.

Great. Just what we need: more stupid men.

Meanwhile, a new report by Natural Resources Defense Council shows that America wastes about 40 percent of all edible food, and much of it is tossed by consumers. In a world of diminishing natural resources, and starving people, can we really sustain excesses like this?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that a typical American throws out 40 percent of fresh fish, 23 percent of eggs, and 20 percent of milk. Consider these cost estimates of all the food that never gets eaten in the U.S., and imagine just how much we can save by wasting less food:

• 25 percent of all freshwater used in U.S.
• 4 percent of total U.S. oil consumption
• $165 billion per year (more than $40 billion from households)
• $750 million per year just to dispose of the food
• 33 million tons of landfill waste

Imagine. Reducing food waste is one way to make a significant environmental difference and advance sustainability that doesn't — you'll love this part —  require any personal sacrifice!

Meanwhile, Americans are also getting fatter and more sedentary:

The United States accounts for 5 percent of the world’s population, but about 33 percent of the weight from obesity.

Compare that with Asia, which has 61 percent of the population, but only 13 percent of the weight from obesity.

Another recent global study found that 40 percent of Americans get little or no physical activity, ranking us among the most lazy people on Earth.

As the adage goes, you are what you eat, and your food choices have planetary consequences. There's never been a better time to get fully conscious about what you're eating.