Aged Beef

Modern industrial civilization has developed within a certain system of convenient myths. The driving force of modern industrial civilization has been individual material gain... Now it's long been understood - very well - that a society that is based on this principle will destroy itself in time. It can only persist - with whatever suffering and injustice it entails - as long as it's possible to pretend that the destructive forces that humans create are limited, that the world is an infinite resource, and that the world is an infinite garbage can. At this stage of history either... the general population will take control of its own destiny and will concern itself with community issues guided by values of solidarity, and sympathy, and concern for others, or - alternatively - there will be no destiny for anyone to control.  (Noam Chomsky)

Sometimes the inspiration for considering a problem comes from the most unexpected corners of thought, in this case Noam Chomsky and my uncle.

My uncle was the head chef for many years at the Chicago Athletic Club. When we visited his home, we were often treated to culinary delicacies supplied by purveyors intent on securing his business. Among these treats was what my uncle described as "aged beef," beef that had been allowed to decompose under carefully controlled conditions in a refrigerated meat locker. He told us a greenish mold would form on the meat as it aged. And he insisted that the process led to some of the most tender, delicious--and expensive-beef a person could eat. The process sounded revolting to me, but then again I never saw the unprepared meat. I only tasted the roast after it emerged from the oven and I had to admit it tasted pretty good. Still, I was acquiring part of that day's calories by eating meat that was on its way to being inedible.

To eat only this kind of aged beef is possible only for the very wealthy. The energy and space for the refrigeration needed to decompose the meat vastly increases its cost. Setting aside any health risks posed by the consumption of red meat, providing such tender beef to an entire population is not a sustainable goal. There is too little of the stuff and it is too expensive.

As a child I had not yet ingested the social point of view that delicacies, regardless of how they were produced, were to be yearned for and treasured. When my sisters and I chorused, "Yuck!" and "I don't want any," when the 'aged beef' was offered to us, my uncle laughed at our ignorance and our parents shushed us for being unappreciative of the generous gift we were being offered. In that interaction we were being taught how to think about an aspect of our culture. It would take many years before I would set aside the family admonishment to place value in this kind of food.

Over the years I have often found myself exclaiming “Yuck!” to some aspect of our society that seems cruel, unwise, or unsustainable, only to have someone who felt wiser or more powerful shush me for expressing such a thought. Sometimes I have quieted, but lately, as you know if you are reading this blog, I let my thoughts fly. I have learned that there are others in the world like me—people who are really considering the effects of the lifestyle choices we are making. As it turns out, my initial reaction to aged beef had some merit. Certainly, a diet heavily invested in this food would not be good for my health.

My uncle, by the way, developed both diabetes and heart disease as he grew older. His lifestyle did not do right by him. I remembered my uncle as I considered an image of oil and gas that keeps coming to me.

Bennett H. Wall, author of Growth in a Changing Environment notes that oil is the resource that has allowed the U.S. to create our current standard of living. Our country would not live as well as it does or exercise its extensive influence over the world if it lacked oil. My son describes oil’s effect on humanity as a turbo booster to human development.

According to the site petroleum.co.uk, oil is the result of the decomposition of vast amounts of plant and small animal life, buried under silt and sand, and subjected to heat and pressure over millions of years. This website also notes that man has almost exhausted these hydrocarbons or fossil fuels in about a hundred years. Once we’ve drilled and pumped the last bit of the stuff to the surface, that’s it. There won’t be any more for longer than it’s useful to think about.

Our current culture in the U.S. has developed as if all of us are entitled to a steady diet of aged beef. And in spite of worldwide recognition that oil supplies must diminish, the world continues to prop up social structures that are completely dependent on an inexhaustible supply of oil—or gas. U.S. transportation needs and the huge appetite of the U.S. defense industry account for 40% of our country’s oil and gas consumption. And that 40% equals an ability to eat up 25% of worldwide supplies of oil and gas.

Clearly, our country has a big oil habit. And the system responsible for maintaining our country’s preeminence on the globe—the U.S. military—needs a great deal of that oil. Is it any wonder that powerful interests in our country are pushing so hard to get fracking going in every possible state?

So if we’re going to take my metaphor to its ridiculous conclusion: if oil is like beef, gas must be like the flatulence that comes when you eat too much of a good thing. Our government and the oil and gas industry hope to stave off the reality of dwindling hydrocarbon supplies by running our country—and the world—on ‘the rumbling in the tummy’ that follows a too heavy meal. The U.S. has been gorging on dead plant and small animal waste for about hundred years and is now being forced to switch to the poor cousin of hydrocarbons—gas. And this unpalatable strategy is put forward in spite of the risks that fracking poses to air, water, and land—those three key elements life needs in order survive.

For an additional turbo charge of hydrocarbons, the oil and gas industry—and the government it has bought—is willing to risk every other aspect of life on the planet. If that isn’t a junky’s approach to existence I don’t know what is.

But I didn’t write this so that you’d feel overwhelmed by the forces mounted against a saner approach to our situation. In fact, I’ve written this hoping you will stop waiting for anything or anyone powerful to save you. I am writing because I believe citizens in this country—who routinely weather the vagaries imposed on them by more powerful forces—have it within them to make choices that will help them and the planet at the same time.

The quest for hydrocarbons is predicated on markets. And according to the industry, our transportation needs are a huge part of that market. There are choices you can make that will seriously decrease the country’s transportation needs:

1.     Look at the distance between where you work and where you live. Can you find a way to close the gap? Move closer to where you work? Or find a job closer to where you live?

2.     Think about the car(s) you own. If you own more than one vehicle, could you get by with one? Could you at least park one for most of the time and choose public transportation, bikes and your own two feet to get around in town? Could you replace an aging vehicle with one that gets as high an amount of gas mileage as possible? Could you choose a vehicle that is lighter and has a smaller engine?

3.     Do you have kids bicycles in your garage that no one is using? Where could you donate them so kids can put some more miles on them?

4.     Are you in the military? Could you consider a new career? Could you communicate to the military whenever possible your need for it to grow more energy and environmentally conscious?

5.     Where does your food come from? Could you choose local foods that don’t have to be carted thousands of miles to get to your store?

6.     Could you wean yourself and your children off plastics? Just think about that one for a second—how many ways do you use plastics every day? What renewable substances could take their place?

7.     Some communities are setting up biodiesel plants. Owners are converting their cars to run on biodiesel fuel. Are you an entrepreneur? Could you start a business like this in your town?

8.     If you feel inclined to work on a cause, how could you promote the extension of public transportation in your town?

9.     If you know your town is trying to set up a food cooperative that will offer local and affordable products for its citizens, can you buy a membership? Can you help to pay for someone else’s membership? Can you offer to loan start-up funds to a cooperative that’s trying to get off the ground?

By all means, if you are so inclined, become an anti-fracking activist and work on a political solution to the fracking problem. We need moratoriums or bans on this kind of energy as soon as possible. But please remember that our appetites for energy provide, in part, the justification for the oil and gas industry to pursue its latest turbo charge. We will not keep fracking out of the energy mix until we significantly curtail our own use of hydrocarbons.

In his last days, my uncle bemoaned people he called “health nuts” who had changed the kinds of foods that people wanted in restaurants. Among other things, he noted that people’s appreciation of aged beef had dwindled as more and more people limited how much they ate of this rich and expensive food. He lived through a change in values when it came to eating styles. I am hoping we all live through a change in values with regard to energy consumption.