Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hipster Monarchs and the Future of Food

     When I think of British Royalty, I often conjure images of tea time, stuffy suits, and rousing cricket matches. As it turns out, His Royal Highness (HRH), Prince Charles of Wales, is kind of a hipster- at least in terms of monarchies. Deemed the "Radical Royalist", he devotes his time and energies to the promotion of sustainable farming. He's been, like, totally into organic since way before it was actually cool. Speaking at a conference on food at Georgetown University, he gave a speech titled ,"On the Future of Food", and what he has to say is important. 

I'm about to break this speech down old school in a neo-aristotelian fashion, focusing on the rhetorical canon of invention and the use of ethos, logos, and pathos. 

HRH with a gift for baby George

ETHOS: Ethos refers to the portions of a text that build a speaker's character. The food movement as long been accused of being elitist, and having the Prince of Wales speak on the subject could be problematic. HRH has to be relatable, otherwise his message is only going to resonate with the upper-crust of society.  He begins his speech by reminding us that his first grandson ('lil Georgie!) has just been born. This helps remind listeners that aside from being royal, he's a man that cares about his family. He also cares enough about the issue of our food system to show up and give this speech when he could be at home making funny faces at his new grandson. 

     HRH is more than just talk. He can roll up his, sleeves, throw on his Wellies, and get his hands dirty. He has been an organic farmer for three decades. This begins to detract from his royalty and we start to see him as being "down to earth"- literally. He's also an activist for the issue of sustainability, creating an International Sustainability Unit within his country and a charity, Accounting for Sustainability, which provides much needed research on how to solve problems regarding the environment and our food supply. Prince Charles assures us that he will not be "green washing" the subject and proceeds to frankly lay out his argument in a problem/solution manner. 

LOGOS: This is the good stuff. Logos refers to logical arguments in order to persuade an audience towards truth. HRH does this well, creatively blending artistic proofs (his own logic) and non-artistic proofs (facts or statistics). According to Price Charles and the United Nations , there are currently 7 billion people on our planet and that number is growing exponentially. While the population is growing, our natural resources are in serious decline. He outlines the major issues:

• The average meal travels 1,500 miles to get to you. That means your burger and fries also comes with about a gallon of gasoline per person/per day. 
• We develop one acre of land per minute of every day. At this rate, we're faced with a major dilemma of having enough space to grow the food and graze the livestock needed to support the growing population. 
• Soil is being washed away 10 times faster than the earth can replenish it, 40 times faster in China. 
• Water is kind of a big deal when we're talking about growing food. Rivers and aquifers are running dry all over the world. The situation is critical. Tie this to our obsession with animal proteins (It takes 2,000 gallons of water to produce only 1 pound of beef) and the message is clear- This is no bueno, ya'll. 

     If you're a little freaked out right now, you should be. However, Prince Charles doesn't leave us hanging. He also uses logos to offer us solutions.  The bottom line is that we have to get our act together, sustainably speaking. He suggests that we publicly analyze current policies and shift our subsidies away from Big Ag and towards farmers, "that are more sustainable, less polluting, and of wide benefit to the public interest." Since not all of us are in a position to change policy, here's what I suggest: 

• Educate yourself. Figure out where your food comes from and how it's being produced.
• Write to your elected officials that can change policy.
• Use your dolla bills as votes. Shop local and organic. 
• Plant a garden. It's a fun was to reconnect yourself with the food chain. Sometimes we forget that food is actually grown in nature and not just plucked off of grocery shelves. 

     

PATHOS: Pathos are statements that aim to emotionally appeal to an audience. This is where HRH tugs at our heart strings and answers the question, "Why should we care?" For starters, family. Most of us westerners don't trouble eating right now, but with climate change a reality and the population growing, how our our grandchildren and great-grandchildren going to manage? We'll be putting an unbearable weight on them. This is not something that we want on our collective consciousness as a society. 

    As promised, he doesn't "green wash" or gloss over the issues. Issues regarding the food supply in connection with the environment come down to life itself. This provokes fear, and hopefully, action. He asks us not to shy away from the issue, but to face it with bravery. Ultimately, he leaves us with a sense of duty and moral obligation. 

Prince Charles gave a speech that was worth listening to and you can check it out in its entirety here.

I have a new-found admiration for this progressive prince, however, I wouldn't look for him to grow a beard and start wearing flannel anytime soon.