Thousands of flights canceled and hundreds of thousands of stranded passengers…The economic cost to the European tourism industry is expected to be around 1 billion pounds.
I have one friend stranded in Kuala Lampur who is wondering when on Earth he is ever going to make it back to the Nederlands!
CBC news said this evening that there is are some food shortages developing in the UK as the main component of all food to feed all of Britain is distributed by air transport. This is worrisome. It is intimately related to the concept of sustainability and ensuring that we have a healthy and renewable food supply available for the people that live in respective nations.
An international marketplace where I can have Blueberries in December and Guavas from the shrubs of the Caribbean (which in reality turned out to be mass produced monoculture the last time I bought some) is really…nice. However, there is always a cost to it. Raj Pattel in his book, the Value of Nothing, discusses the concept of how there are hidden costs associated with everything we buy. So often the entire concept of social, and environmental implications to our globalized economy where most foods travel 1500 miles to our plates (FoodInc), are entirely ignored. Now don’t be alarmed, I’m not about to tell you all about how you should start some 100 mile diet (although that would be super cool 
), instead I’m trying to draw a comparison with what is happening right now in the UK as a result of a volcanic explosion in Iceland, to our situation in regards to ALR land and highway developement in BC.
If this cessation of air traffic continues for any longer length of time in the UK, further actions will have to be taken to ensure that food shortages do not ensue. When the basic needs of sustenance for an entire nation depend on foreign crops and food production, there seems to be a bigger issue at play. Whatever happened to maintaining a capacity for agriculture instead of making it another nation’s responsibility to feed a foreign economy. Many individuals view the whole concept of an entirely globalized and unregulated trading economy as the ultimate example of cooperation and capitalism for the benefit of a large number of people. I think they are missing an important aspect of the conversation. In reality, the unsustainable agricultural production of food for Western Nations, and more generally the Global North, does not benefit the health or biodiversity of the nations where the product is produced. Look for example at the eradication of cultures and displacement of peoples in regards to palm kernel oil monoculture. We use palm kernel oil in thousands of products and the implications of the market that has been developed around it are dire… As Sarah Palin would say, if you want more examples: “I’ll try and find some and bring ‘em to ya!” At the end of the day, there is a major issue in the way that the UK can’t even support its citizen’s stomachs.
One of the most important partners we have here in BC is the state of California. Our dependence on California produce is so great that BC would experience some major issues if that food supply were to suddenly be challenged. It therefore seems bizarre that we trade so much with California for products that are accessible in British Columbia! We have some of the richest farmland in Canada and a great thing called the ALR (Agricultural Land Reserve) that is supposed to protect it. As California experiences more and more environmental degradation and detrimental desertification, BC will have to source new suppliers of food… This is a massive undertaking that will become exponentially difficult as other growing markets in developing countries modernize, resulting in increased demand…As the demand curve shifts to the right, costs will increase, production will become ever more important, shortages will ensue, and…..PHEW!!!
Excuse my blatant run on sentence, however, lets be a little more responsible about thinking of our AMAZING natural resources here in BC. The capital asset of rich land and capacity to grow food is something we can’t and shouldn’t build endless highways over in an attempt to…Sorry I forget the initial intent to help British Columbians on through Gateway Project and highway expansion (including the ridiculous concept of the South Fraser Perimeter Road along the edge of Burn’s Bog in Delta). Doesn’t this all seem far more complicated than it’s worth? What if instead, we chose to value our land, the ALR, and natural places like Burn’s Bog. What if we were to take health and food security seriously? What if an unexpected event like the volcano in Iceland where to happen in some other way that had some significant effect on this province.
It’s a long winded way of saying that I hope the current travel crises will allow the UK to wake up on the subject of sustainability, and the BC government to open their eyes on what is at stake with the Gateway Project and the sustainability of this province.
Check out this video on Food. It talks a lot about MONSANTO, of whom Naomi Klein gave the ‘Angry Mermaid Award’ to in Copenhagen:
