What it boils down to…
So far the readings for class have enlightened me on a lot of topics regarding food in our society. The more I learn about the local food movement, the more important this movement becomes to me. I’ve always had plans to live a more “green” lifestyle following college (because let’s face it, changing your lifestyle while attending college is nearly impossible since you really don’t have the freedom you would have otherwise). Eating locally produced foods fits into my future goals since I value consuming local products to support area businesses and living a more Earth friendly, sustainable life.
Macias, Pollen, Rozin and Shea all somewhat tackle the hidden costs of industrial food on our society, ranging from environment costs (due to pesticides and habitat destruction) to health issues (like obesity) and economic issues (the mere cost to transport goods in fossil fuel usage). I am curious about CSAs and farmers markets and the “organic” foods available in supermarkets. I especially want to learn more about organic foods, and I’m leaning towards focusing my research paper on this topic. But for my own future reference, I would like to learn more about the cost and benefits of a CSA membership, buying from a farmers market and growing my own food, when possible.
One idea that really struck me while reading these articles was the idea that socioeconomic status, education level and race can predetermine who will be most likely to participate in the local food movement. I saw this previously in my own family but I had never stopped to think about it. I just assumed my parents did not share my values and world views, I never considered why they might feel this way.
For some background, my parents are divorced and neither of my parents have an education past the high school level. My mother is a single mom and she works three jobs to afford our home and to support herself. Neither of my parents seem to care very much about the local food movement, despite our town having a prominent farmers market weekly in the summer. The first time I talked my mom into visiting the farmers market (and actually purchasing produce) was this last summer. My grandma (who lives with my mother) received coupons allowing senior citizens to purchase local produce from farmer’s market for free, up to a certain amount. Using these coupons, we visited the different produce stalls and bought some corn and a unique vegetable, Kohlrabi, since we’d never heard of it before and wanted to try something new. My mom really enjoyed visiting the farmers market and we had a lot of fun talking to the farmers about the produce they were selling. This visit made me realize that my mom wasn’t completely apathetic to eating locally produced foods; she mainly couldn’t afford to do so without the coupons my grandmother had received.
Macias’ article further made me question this phenomenon. If eating locally is so important (and I truly think it is), shouldn’t everyone be able to do so? It doesn’t seem fair that only certain portions of the population should be able to afford this local produce and the benefits that come from eating locally. I plan on focusing on this topic in my upcoming essay. I would like to pose a solution to this problem. Currently, I think more education is necessary to encourage local food consumption, and I also think that more government incentives (to the elderly, those living in the inner city, and those who have a lower socioeconomic status) are needed to allow the members of our society who would otherwise not be able to, to participate in this movement. I am interested in pursuing this topic because I believe that everyone should have equal access to a happy and healthy lifestyle. My viewpoint may be a bit liberal or naïve, but I think change can be enacted to at least try to achieve this goal.