Paul Roberts

Journalist and author Paul Roberts tours Burlington's Intervale, a UVM partner in the fight for local farming. (Photo: Sally McCay)

"You're working in a vacuum," quips Paul Roberts, after hearing a group of local food leaders discuss ideas for new research that might lead toward a sustainable food system. "You mustn't worry that Vermont is weird. Vermont being unique is a huge asset."

Roberts has a sense of humor but he isn't always known for great optimism, with books to his credit like The End of Oil in 2004, followed by last year's The End of Food. His journalism delves into the complex interplay of energy and economics, politics and agriculture — the conclusions lead to potentially dire outcomes with solutions, Roberts says, that call for a "gigantic social restructuring." At the university he found an audience of like minds.

Invited to speak at a conference of the UVM-affiliated Food Systems Leadership Institute (FSLI), Roberts spent a full day with other formal and informal groups including academics, students and leaders of nonprofits. He was here to listen and learn as well as talk and could frequently be seen taking notes. Roberts will return on Sept. 21 to deliver an Aiken lecture and has been asked to address issues that directly impact Vermont.

"It's always important," says Thomas Vogelmann, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, "to have people here with a national and global perspective. What we're trying to accomplish in Vermont is unique but we need to be reminded of the complexities outside of our state to help us understand some of the issues facing us. At the same time," he continues, "it's about establishing a network of people thinking about food systems. I hope Paul will be able to get something out of this as well."

And he appeared to, even as he added a note of skepticism. "I'm pretty excited by what I've seen," Roberts says. "You don't all seem to have your heads in the sky. This is a cool little incubator, but how unique is it to this area, the climate, the politics?"

Radical realism

All the progressives in the room notwithstanding, there are still big problems in Vermont, as elsewhere. "We're an extremely highly-traveled people, we're still affected by commodities," notes Cynthia Belliveau, dean of Continuing Education, which brings influential thought leaders such as Roberts to UVM as both FSLI speakers and Aiken lecturers.

The questions Roberts raises feel daunting for citizens everywhere. There are the big societal issues — if cheap energy created an unsustainable way of life, how can we undo the system we created? Without healthcare, how do we entice people to stay — or become — farmers? If we can't afford to replace mass systems with better but expensive mass systems, how do we re-empower people to be more independent without losing the specialization that's become the basis of our civilization?

"What changes," Roberts asks, "will be driven by the muscle of the market, what will require policy, and what will be culture/community based?"

But particularly with regards to the latter, people, he believes, have to interrogate their personal values, a sentiment echoed in many of the conversations. What do you tell your kids about what to expect in life? Can our vision of a comfortable life be recalibrated when resources are scarce? Can cooking once again replace convenience?

In the hard search for answers, Roberts is pragmatic. "To me," he says, "a sustainable food system has to serve everyone — in this country and the world. First, we get nutritious food to communities that can't afford them, even if the fresh produce comes from Costco." Not forever, he insists, but it's a beginning he'll accept.

Roberts adds that Exxon would quickly point out that they are supplying the oil in the cars everyone drove to this meeting where they floated their heads in the future. "That," he says, "is Dick Cheney thinking."

"The perfect," Roberts insists, "is the enemy of the good. Getting there is going to require breaking some eggs."

PUBLISHED

06-11-2009
LeeAnn Cox