In the past year or two, I feel I have come a long way in terms of how I view food, and more specifically, the food I eat. But before I launch into what I have learned and how I have changed, I should provide some clarifications in the way of a disclaimer:I am not a health food junkie.
I rarely take vitamins, despite Andrew's greatest attempts.
I am by no means a Whole Foods worshipper (more on this later).
I am not someone who will buy organic at any cost.
I am no expert on sustainability.
While these things still are and have always been true for me, it should be noted that before a year or two ago, the words "organic" and "sustainability" would have barely entered my vocabulary. Perhaps it is due to all the organic hype as of late, or perhaps it comes from being immersed in an urban setting (Chicago) or a socially conscious setting (our church), or maybe it's because I'm getting older and have a greater interest in how I care for my body and spend my money, but whatever the reason (and it's most likely a combination of all the above), I am ready to engage the topic.
So, where do I stand? A few thoughts: First, I do not dispute the fact that food grown organically is better for you and the environment. Pesticides and chemicals and hormones are bad. I get that. Second, I have come to understand and appreciate the difference between organic and local. The concepts are quite linked, but they are not interchangeable. True, oftentimes food is both organic and local, but sometimes it is not. Third, there are many benefits and implications for eating organic, locally grown food, and I acknowledge those benefits as a viable reason why I would want to invest my money and energy into making organic and local eating a priority.
My challenge with organic eating is best exemplified by the problem that the store Whole Foods presents. Whole Foods seems to have gained the corner market on all things organic. When you think organic, you think Whole Foods. And when you think Whole Foods, you think expensive, very very expensive. Assuming this line of thinking (which not all of you may espouse, I understand), the logical conclusion is that eating organically is a luxury. I would argue that even if you don't completely agree with this line of thinking, there is still some element of privilege that must be acknowledged when it comes to the choice to eat organically. It is a choice and that alone makes it a privilege. There are many many people who would love to make better food choices for their family but cannot possibly afford it. We must recognize that when we start making judgments about how people eat.
My understanding of the distinction between organic and local has helped me to start to reconcile this conflict. I am no guru when it comes to local, sustainable farms (see disclaimers above) and I don't have any stats in front of me to back up my claim, but I believe that local helps the organic to become more accessible. This isn't to say that Whole Foods doesn't carry locally grown food (although, I think it's fair to say that Whole Foods has taken a lot of the local out of organic). I'm only saying that it's just good business sense to cut out the middle man (or woman) and get your food from the farmer, right? And if nothing else, when I buy locally I know that I am supporting local farmers and sustainable farms. And from my experience, these farmers are socially conscious; they want to make good food accessible.
Starting this summer our church is partnering with Mike and Clare's Farm in Ottawa, Illinois, as part of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program (for more info on CSAs, click here). Once a week, shares of freshly grown and harvested vegetables (some of which are well known and some of which I have never heard) will be delivered to our church. In addition, we'll be receiving shares of meat, such as grass-fed beef, pasture raised chicken and free range eggs, from Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm. It is our church's vision that we will not only take a more responsible approach to our food as individuals, but that as a community, we will use our CSA partnership to reach out to those in need.
Andrew and I are excited to start making decisions about organic food in a way that makes sense for us. While we've always tried to buy fresh, avoid processed foods and shop around the perimeter of the grocery store (some great advice my mom passed on), I'm glad to be taking that next step. The next challenge? Recipes using hakerei and tatsoi. No clue.
5 comments:
Great post Amy.
Thank you for your comments on organic being expensive. Nathan and I have made efforts toward organic for a while now and it always urks me when people just say "oh, that's too expensive". It really depends on how you eat, what you choose to eat, where you buy and what you're choosing to put your money toward.
For me personally, a $6 gallon of milk is worth it if I know it means Sanne won't get boobs at 7 years old. That may seem a little extreme but I really believe we are what we eat (disclaimer: I like doritos just as much as the next guy and eat them too).
I find that a lot of times our Whole Foods or formerly Wild Oats bills were a lot less expensive than Dominicks.
That being said, I am thankful that we do have that choice and you've reminded me of that.
I think you'd love the movie "The Real Dirt on Farmer John"
And I'm loving that your church is doing a CSA program. So cool! There is a website . . . and I'm totally blanking on it, where you can just put the name of the food item and it will give you recipes. When we would get food delivered from a farm to our house, I always felt like we were swimming in kale! : )
I love this post too! Go green inside and out!
I have to say I agree with your friend Barbara. We got turned on to organic milk when Charlotte was one and we didn't want her to "develop" any sooner than needs be. Since then we have taken a much more responsible approach I terms of food and what we put in our bodies. We have begun to shop locally and eat or drink those foods that we KNOW have not had some "extras" added in.
All this being said, we also enjoy a good chip or two now and then, or Charlotte's mac and cheese (although she is beginning to like my homemade one too), a little awareness can make a huge difference.
It may take some time or a little more money, but we are all worth it, no?
i've been learning a lot about the food i eat and how it comes to my plate recently too. i have been very uninformed about food production and my options until this year really and am making some decisions that i never thought i would make or associate myself with. as i learn more, i realize that i can make eating good food (and spending money on good food) a priority. also, though, i am torn by the fact that while people like me can make it work to afford eating right a priority, it IS a privilege of those who are not poor to eat this way. for people like us, even though we don't think we have a lot of money, saying that buying organic is "too expensive" is more of an excuse or a cop-out. the point is... if you make it a priority, one can probably afford it.
i know that you and i have shared many conversations in which we recognize the fact that there are working poor who really ARE poor who don't even have grocery stores in their neighborhoods, let alone places like whole foods to go spend the money they don't have. these are the things that i know you want to keep in our minds as we dabble in organics. thanks for sharing your thoughts, and i look forward to what we will do with all our veggies this summer and our grass-fed beef!
After reading Sarah's comment and thinking about choices toward organic . . . I want to also put this thought out to you:
Supply and demand.
The more we demand pesticide free and local produce, the more likely the farmers and stores will supply. This, I would imagine, will afford more people the opportunity to eat organically once the demand increases . . .
When I buy organic I don't see it as a selfish thing but rather a way to nourish my body with whole foods and also to say that organic food is what the people want and hope that the market responds (driving down prices in the long run to make it more affordable to everyone).
Right. I definitely agree... we should demand good products and hopefully the market will respond. I think it already has to some degree (more "organic aisles" at grocery stores, etc.). I'm certainly not saying that it is selfish to buy organic or that you shouldn't buy organic because poor people can't. I'm only saying that there is a reality that cannot be overlooked. We need to do our part to make organic food more accessible, and maybe even more important at this point, we need to educate people as to why organic food should be made a priority, thereby increasing the demand (I'm thinking specifically of people who don't have access to the education that says organics are better). But while we are trying to do this, we need to acknowledge the reality. We are in tension between living in a broken system and trying to make it better.
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