Brain Canvas

It seems today that people are more interested in their food than ever. How it’s raised, how it’s harvested and how it’s prepared are questions that more and more people are asking about what ends up on the dinner table. The meat industry in particular receives heightened scrutiny, both in regards to whether its treatment of animals is ethical and also for its impact on the environment. The proliferation of organic meat and other schemes like cow shares, wherein a number of families will together purchase sections of a cow that was raised and butchered according to their specific preferences, all point to a growing attention to where our food comes from.

But these new food options only go so far. While an individual consumer may have more choice when it comes to purchasing meat at the end of its life cycle, there are few options for the most conspicuous of meat consumers to have a direct hand in, and thus direct knowledge of, the entire process of getting an animal from the farm and into their bellies. This gap creates a golden opportunity for a new kind of farm tourism.

The idyllic rolling green hill of rural Wisconsin would provide the perfect backdrop for a family vacation or romantic get-away. Guests would have the chance to explore the farm and surrounding woodlands, sample the locally grown produce, and most importantly, pick out their own dinner.

Waking up bright and early on their first full day on the farm, they would be instructed in the proper technique for slaughtering their chosen animal using traditional and ethical procedures. They would then be shown how to correctly butcher the animal into all the different cuts and varieties of tasty meat. Finally, at the end of a hard day’s work of preparation, experienced gourmet chefs would help them select a menu composed of their cut of choice paired with vegetables grown on the property, bread baked at the farm house and wines grown and produced locally. The day would culminate with eating the fruits (and meats) of their labor, soaking in the sunset over the small duck pond around back. The remaining meat would be frozen and packed to take back home to enjoy similarly delicious meals for months to come.

What better way to not only sustain disappearing family farms, but feed the appetites of the world’s gastronomes who hunger for a little adventure.

Given the holiday we in the US celebrate today and the recent tragedy in the Caribbean, I have been torn all weekend whether to write something here today about Martin Luther King, Jr. or Haiti. I’ve decided to forgo the latter until next time, in large part things ot this quotation from King himself which will serve nicely as a springboard into my “What If…” query for this week. From King’s “I have been to the mountaintop” speech. Towards the end of his speech he referenced recent threats against his life saying:

“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

He gave this speech on April 3, 1968. The day before he was assassinated. What is interesting to consider about King, and something I think most people today don’t realize, is just how subversive of a figure he truly was. Being now immortalized in a federally sanctioned national holiday, and his life story memorized by children of all colors (at least in America), its easy to forget that he was in life such a socially and politically subversive figure. What is interesting to consider is if such subversive characters still have the ability to make such a huge positive impact on society in today’s world. Somewhat surprisingly (to myself at any rate), I believe the clear and honest answer to this question to be no. If I think about the people over the last 20 years (about a generation) who have changed the world in some way, most of the people who come to my mind are not people who did it by challenging the status quo outside of the system, but rather people who worked within the system to achieve their ends. Perhaps the perfect foil to the example of King is President Obama. I’m not arguing that they have made equal impacts on the world (although both have won Nobel Peace Prizes), but at the very least both have risen to impeccable heights. The important point here is that they have taken drastically different paths to do so. Now for me, the interesting question is, of course, why is this the case? I think its easy, and also probably true to an extent, to point to the society we live in today to be the primary cause of this. Through political change, technological innovation and economic development, more people in the world have access to the opportunities one needs to influence the issues we face than ever before. A greater number of people have been able to join the conversation. Another important thing to consider is whether a subversive approach would be adequate to tackle the problems our world faces today. Protests in Copenhagen at the COP 15 summit probably did very little to bring about its extremely underwhelming conclusion. The problems our world faces today, whether they be climate change, education or terrorism are more complex and may require the resources that one can leverage “inside” the system to be adequately tackled. The heroes and revolutionaries from our time will be the entrepreneurs, politicians and scientists who worked within the system to start the enterprises, build the coalitions and invent the technologies that saved the world.