Concepts Of Sustainability is a continuing Greenopolis series exploring the larger ideas behind current sustainability trends.

Food is one of our greatest pleasures, and yet, daily, many of us yield to an unnatural desire to satisfy our hunger with something quick, nutritionally unsound, and unsustainable. We need to reawaken our senses and relearn how to enjoy food, while taking responsibility for where our food comes from.

I love food. Really, I do. I love to cook it. I love to eat it. For fun, I read cookbooks and make menu lists. What? It’s relaxing. I love to watch others eat something I’ve cooked. I even dream about shopping for food. And no, I don’t want to know what your spiritualist says that means. Food is my internet porn. If there were a self-help group for someone like me, I’d probably need to be in it.

My love of all things delicious endures, but my attitude about where my food comes from has evolved. I’m no longer satisfied with any food that just seems to taste good. It has to be good food, too. I want to know where my food comes from. I want to know that the food I’m eating is healthy, delicious, nutritious and sustainable.

Is sustainability an unachievable goal?

Sustainability in all areas of our relationship with the planet is an important concept. All our efforts to protect and nurture our world hinge on the idea of sustainable practices, practiced faithfully. But some argue that sustainability is an unachievable goal.

Bryan Welch, Publisher and Editorial Director for Mother Earth News argues that instead of sustainability, we should strive instead for repeatability. “If nature teaches us anything, it is that nothing is truly sustainable. In the course of time, everything changes,” writes Welch.

From Four Questions for a Sustainable Society: Is it Repeatable?

“When you buy food grown by local farmers, you reduce the amount of energy required to transport that food. You have a better opportunity to learn about the farmer’s land-use practices and to make sure she is protecting the long-term productivity of the land. And you create an economic incentive for the preservation of the land’s productivity. If local foods are valuable commodities, then the farmer and the community have economic reasons for preserving farmland... We contribute to the repeatability of local food production by patronizing local farmers, and the preservation of local farms prevents pollution, improving our air, water and soil, thereby sustaining the food source. The diversity of local agriculture across the continents makes food production more reliable, overall, since the diversity of local products makes food production more resilient.”

Point: Repeatability makes more sense

Welch argues that the repeatability of locally grown food is what makes it a better choice, both economically and globally.

I can get behind the idea that repeatability has a broader definition than sustainability and therefore a more flexible course through which to achieve sustainability goals.

Counterpoint: What about eatability?

But I also think that we need to return to a time when people actually enjoyed their food. The idea of buying locally grown produce without the incentive of great taste is just as dry to me as cardboard (which is also reusable, compostable and digestible, if you want to get down to it).

I fear that too many of us have traded true enjoyment of a meal for expedience and necessity. And while it’s a common problem, people still need a personal reason to make the switch to more sustainable food choices. Until John Q. Public sees a direct benefit, outside of lofty environmental imperatives, it’s going to be hard to encourage widespread change. Busy moms, business travelers and harried movers-and-shakers of all stripe want concrete rewards, not some-day platitudes.

It is not enough to plead the case of the lower-carbon-lifestyle to those who may not have the time or inclination to spend weeks coping with the extra work, lack of convenience and yes, I’ll say it... the extra gas... of switching to a more natural diet. It takes time to readjust palates to the pleasure of good food and appreciate the wonder of a truly healthy meal, especially if the mainstay of your diet has been processed, over-salted and wrapped in styrofoam.

We’re eating more, but are we enjoying it?

Attitudes about food must change. But first, the attitude toward self must change.

Organizations like Slow Food, an international member-supported group, are trying to reshape attitudes about food and how we relate to it by challenging people to slow down and enjoy nature’s bounty in a more thoughtful way.  They promote the eatability of food.

Based on the idea that all phases of food - growing, harvesting, distribution and consumption - can be a communal and social expression of ideal sustainability, the group pleads for a return to a lifestyle of pleasurable consumption.

Through what they call convivia, members come together to share the everyday joys food has to offer. The Slow Food movement is founded on a principle called eco-gastronomy - “a recognition of the strong connections between plate and planet.” Slow Food promotes the pleasure of food, along with a responsibility to protect food heritage, biodiversity, cultural traditions and the environment.

I wonder what strides toward sustainability - or repeatability - we might make if people stopped driving-thru and started sitting down to eat a meal, not because of implied environmental guilt, but simply for the pleasure of it.