Introduction: Starting the Journey to a Sustainable Ecosystem and Healthy People

Abstract

This book is about the intersection between the food system, the condition of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, and the health of the people that live there. It takes a historical approach examining how the food system developed from early colonial times to the present. The book introduces the reader to the basic science governing the estuary and human health. It then examines the issues of exploitation of key animal populations, effects of industrial/chemical agriculture on the ecosystem, diet driven human health outcomes, pollution from the food system, economics and ethics of the food system, current policy environment, and the nexus between the food system and climate change in the Chesapeake Bay Region. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is examined from the perspectives of the impacts on the health of the ecosystem that produces it and the people that consume it. The authors introduce the concept that the food system drives eutrophication of people as well as ecosystems. The book presents evidence for the efficacy of replacing the SAD with a food system restructured to produce a whole foods plant based diet. It is written with social context that addresses issues of gender and race as they pertain to the food system and health outcomes. It also notes particular contribution made by women and people of color.

The Bay and the land around it were once so fair,

that people could find and grow their food without much care.

Then came the colonists who didn’t understand,

how to manage the sacred land.

They built dams that blocked the flow of fish,

and took from the Bay too much food for their dish.

Meat and sweets became the order of the day,

this made sick the people and the Bay.

To bring both the people and ecosystem back to health,

from better foods, farmers must look to for wealth.