Vacations suck if the food is lousy

With cheap fossil fuel came roads and with roads access to remote places. As people's incomes have grown they've taken their kids on vacation with them. And with families has come another casualty of the road- the decline of local food to satisfy the fussy less granular pallet of children. Which is a pity because parents can't behave like adults and eat food- instead they have to pretend to like hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, and spaghetti all the time. Local food systems that depended on the city for income break down, the city loses its agricultural base to McDonalds and Cargill, and cheaper property for sprawl shows up where green fields used to be.

Coastal communities, which families like to visit, lose out more since whole populations of seafood collapse with families. Kids don't eat snapper so it gets gobbled up in the international market. Only shrimp is allowed here and that may have to come from Mexico or Vietnam.  Local fishermen lose control of the market and sell into the global distribution market which has only one constraint- lower prices. Fishermen go broke and their properties are the next place for the road to access new condos on the beach.

Into this mix of property rights and roads the California Coastal Commission has sought to preserve public access to a beach by restricting ownership (though owners get a portion of the rent):
    The California Coastal Commission, an agency founded in 1972, wants to ensure public access to the state’s 1,100 miles of shoreline. So when Lowe Enterprises requested permission to build 50 condominiums, which the company calls casitas, in an oceanfront resort called Terranea in this lush section of southwest Los Angeles County, the commission demanded restrictions. The idea was to keep owners from monopolizing access to the ocean.

According to Peter M. Douglas, executive director of the commission, developers determined that condominiums would be more profitable than hotels. But because the commission’s goal is to maximize public access, it imposed restrictions meant to make the condominiums available to the public as rentals.

Developers agreed to the restrictions. But that was during a bull market. Now, Mr. Douglas said, developers say that building condos with the restrictions “turned out to be more trouble than it’s worth.”

Will it work to preserve local food systems?

Hopkins- The Transition Handbook

I always though air and water pollution was bad and displacing indigenous communities for their resources was the basis of (social) evil. To the extent that I believe that I have a right to breathe clean air and drink clean water I have always opposed the notion that the government can allow incremental pollution of my body organs. So peak oil and climate change are only new ways to address the same conflicts of rights over my life systems- lungs, kidneys, heart, blood, etc.

In The Transition Handbook- from oil dependence to local resilience by Rob Hopkins and Richard Hienberg a wonderful case is make for why we should build resilient communities to address a resource limited future and a livable planet for future generations. Home agriculture, and community gardens are the first steps.

Peak oil doesn't engage people. Its been around for a while now. People are not connected to any long term problem. In a way Hopkins is saying that we need to appeal to a better society without saying the world is ending. Develop a vision and work back to what steps today can realize the long term sustainable vision. The silence that pervades this issue is an inability to see past our needs. Some people walk or bike and others think they are doing the impossible. Same with growing your own food- its a surprise. So speak up and do and let your own lives be the light that illuminates the darkness.

The discussion of The Transition Handbook by Rob Hopkins is chugging along on Hyperlocavore! You can drop in anywhere!