The Urban Design Lab at Columbia University has a way of putting complex systems into understandable diagram form and then proposing solutions.In this presentation, UDL (with the help of MIT) began looking at childhood obesity and how heathcare issues are tied to our food systems. They then found much larger problems existed, and that the key to fixing the healthcare issue was to overhaul the food system.
Take a few minutes to view Regionalizing the Food System for Public Health and Sustainability, a 27 slide presentation with comments at the right. The visuals are compelling in an eerily comforting way. As large as the healthcare and regionalized food problems are (and the hurdles to conquering them many), the UDL made apparent this concept: Regional food systems build stronger local economies from the bottom up.
Think about it. Would you rather attempt to solve world hunger or tackle the issue locally first. It's far easier to feed our neighbors well and address the problems of infrastructure, food distribution hubs, and new access models here at home than it is to wrap our heads and motivation to solve the problems nationwide. We can make a difference by starting with food and fiber right here in the Catskills.
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