Åsa Wahlquist, local resident and a Walkley award winning journalist, recently led a Glebe Voices discussion around the dilemmas of balancing individual ethical choices of food with concern for the environment.

Åsa contrasted older cycles of food production when the chooks were fed primarily with household leftovers with present practices of feeding farm animals with grain which is very demanding on the environment. Soy, Åsa pointed out, needs almost as much water as cotton does so choosing to eat tofu rather than beef is not necessarily a better ethical choice.

Given the complexity and number of open questions on what are ‘good’ choices, Åsa suggested the two practical strategies for households: eat unprocessed food and keep food waste to a minimum. It was a full house and lively discussion at the Blackwattle Café for this Glebe Voices with Tiong and Rose providing a welcoming environment for attendees many of whom were new to Glebe Voices and the Society.