10 November 2025

Nobody can deny we are living through a period of civil strife. It would seem to be about the resources we have available to us - and the distribution of our shares. But what if the paradigm through which we understand this problem is subjective? Our worldview is informed by what Frances Moore Lappé calls the three S’s: separateness, scarcity and stasis.

We are individuals and place a high value on independence. Whether we care to admit it or not, overt and subconscious factors convince us that there is not enough pie for everyone, so we believe zero sum is the only game available to us. And we do not often consider the ever-evolving nature of the universe.

I can’t prove that all these things are detrimental to our well-being, but I do know that history, experience and examples from nature demonstrate the benefits of looking at our world through the lens of interdependence, equilibrium and adaptation.

In the first category, I think about fungi, who work in collaboration with the trees they connect, to shuttle information and nutrients that help both to thrive. Equilibrium reminds me of the purpose of equity - to bring things into balance - not to make everyone the same, but to give everyone the same opportunity. And we can’t talk about optimization without embracing the importance of resilience.

In the food world, and with relation to human health and planetary boundaries, this means that it might make more sense to look at the what, than the how much. Experts agree that reducing meat and dairy consumption (in the US, at least) is one of the most impactful actions consumers can take to slow climate change. Or as I like to say…increase the predominance of plants!

Check out these Plantsgiving resources or, at least, make your Thanksgiving plant predominant…the sides are always the best part anyway!

While there are legitimate disputes to Lappé’s original claim that it takes 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef, there is no denying the significant inputs in animal agriculture. Our “modern, efficient” food system may be anything but. Factory farming seems [to me] more like the Rube Goldberg way to get calories - resource inputs (water, fertilizer, land use) are used to grow food for animals, which is fed to said animals, processed by them into muscle, which then becomes the meat on our plate.

Beans, on the other hand, are a direct food. On top of that, they also help sequester carbon (before you say grazing cattle do that too, remember that there is not enough pasture land for Americans to satisfy current demand for meat with grass-fed beef) and improve our health. Replacing just some of the meat on your plate with legumes can yield significant benefits in reduced risk for chronic disease.

But I digress.

In other news, the average American produces about a pound of food waste every day! Imagine if we could harness those inefficiencies - in mindfulness about how we produce and consume food; there would be plenty of “pie” for everyone.

The point is interdependence is a recipe for success. Nature gives us abundance and resilience; we decide how to manage it.