How We Suck at Eating
Be it photosynthesis, chemosynthesis, or consumption of other organisms. All living things require some form of sustenance to survive and thrive. So, sitting comfortably at the top of the food chain for millennia, humans should have perfected the art of eating, right? Well, I think the truth is the polar opposite.
Modern humans require tremendous resources to maintain the ideal living standard, and the resource consumption that comes with this way of living has risen exponentially in recent years. To escape the Malthusian trap that we are already waist-deep in, most industries and governments focus solely on efficiency. With pollutants from the power and manufacturing industries going directly into the ecological cycle, the food industries’ land exploitation, over-grazing, and chemical usage for mass quality control, we are eating ourselves and the world to impending death.
A significant concern in aquatic products now is the ubiquitous microplastic. Humans dump 9 million metric tons of plastic-related wastes into seas yearly, ground by the ebbs and flows, and turn into what we call microplastics. Ingested by all marine life through autotrophy, feeding, and respiration, these slow-degrading particles would end up on our plates eventually. As microplastic absorbs harmful chemicals in the waters, the toxicity biomagnifies exponentially, passing over the food chain. Another example may be how chemical pesticides may remain in crops and harm us more instead of pests. Meaning, at the top of the chain, we would ingest the most harmful chemical, truly ironic as we are the only species that can access almost any sustenance on the planet. This process of biomagnification is truly harming the well-being of humans when it comes to the topic of eating.
Besides introducing and ultimately re-ingesting waste chemicals in the ecological chain, humans also irreversibly altered the Earth. The most notable example is the Loess Plateau. This plateau was one of the most fertile lands in China along the Yellow River. Unfortunately, this once arable land is now basically a desert due to soil erosion from over-farming, over-grazing, and floods for millennia. Now, its soil is considered to be the most erodible in the world.
From the above, we can see that human beings are not the best at eating. We neither pay attention to biomagnification nor do we protect the precious land that we rely on for food. Fortunately, people are starting to come to the realization and promote sustainable development. We are already losers at eating, so trying harder to aim for sustainable development is the least we could do.
