EMERGENCY RISK REDUCTION

As the saying goes: “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one can do anything about it.” The significance of four seasons was more than just idle chatter a century ago. It had a huge impact on food security. Then, we were largely an agricultural society.  Our ancestors were close to the land. Our lives were interwined with what the land produced — whether domesticated or wild.   We eat, drank, and breathed the fruit of the soil.  Were those the ‘good ole days’? It depends on one’s perspective. 

For general comfortableness of life, there’s no time like the present.   Labor-saving household appliances, heat in winter, air conditioning in summer, medicines and medical care, entertainment choices, ease and means of travel, leisure time…we could go on and on with today’s modern conveniences. Of course, there’s the downside also, and many of the stresses and ailments in the 21^st century seem to relate to this comfortableness and the resulting sedentary lifestyle. 

Let’s look for a moment from the perspective of food security. As most of us know, food availability in the developed world is unprecedented. There’s an endless selection and quantity of food — some from worldwide sources and available year round. We are accustomed to the grocery store with its vast array of relatively cheap food, on demand.  Of course, this availability is assured only if our economic and social systems are working.  I have discussed possible means of disrupting these relatively fragile systems in other blogs.

Our present food security is in stark contrast to the pure rural setting of, say, the 19^th century, where food was grown locally and seasonally, and we basically ate what was available – or preserved and stored for a later date. In past centuries, our ancestors ate most foods only ‘in season’’ and local. This limited the diet – sometimes with dire impact. An example was the potato famine of the 1850s in Ireland, that resulted in an estimated million deaths and another million-person influx into the US and Canada.

The bottom line is that now we how have the availability to eat almost any food at almost any time. And there’s no greater example of this than during family events around holidays. Look at all the food, and imagine tracing the origins of each. Eating at all times, and especially during holidays, should be a social event. (A far cry from the fast food epidemic that has swept our society.)

Let us remember this as we recall the spread that many of us have shared this Thanksgiving. Most of us know a bit of the US Thanksgiving setting — the bounty of harvest by Pilgrims who almost starved the year before, until they learned how to farm with time-tested methods by native Americans who were willing to help.  

Let us not forget the historic meaning of these days of Thanks in both the US and Canada during this holiday season. And the privilege of always having adequate food. Let us be grateful for the bounty that is ours.

Happy Thanksgiving and Christmas!