For most of human history people had to eat food within a day or two. Going the market was a daily part of life and people bought a days worth of bread, meat, and vegetables. Every day. And they ate it everyday or it went to the hogs and dogs. Refrigeration and plastic bags changed everything.
My dad who is now over 80 and grew up in Crowley. Tells me that they would slaughter their hog, and salt it in 2 big glass jars. They would seal the jar with the hog lard. The jar stayed under the cabinet until need unrefigerated because there was none They would unseal and pull meat out all winter until it was gone. Food preservation techniques like that are a lost art.
My Dad was born in 1912 on a self sufficient farm that never got electricity until he was grown and moved away. They raised their own animals, farmed with mules, cured bacon and ham, made their own sorghum syrup, canned vegetables in jars and crocks, raised corn and had it ground into meal at a water mill 2 miles away, made their own butter and cheese, made soap, and most of their tools in their own blacksmith shop. It was not all that long ago that life was both simpler and more complex at the same time.
That is why I don't fear global warming. We can get by. If New York floods from sea water rise, we move to Philly, no big deal. If fresh water is scarce we reduce our use of it 10 fold easily. This crazy culture of consumption and abundance is bad for our mental health.
In fact, that would be a very big deal. It's not just NewYork, its all the worlds sea-level cites. Quite impossible. Possibly. But the solutions are not a simple as you imagine.[/quote]
