So, I appear to be turning into a little bit of a hippie. The kind of person who wants to buy local produce and grass-fed beef and all that jazz. Now, I’ve read The Omnivore’s Delimna and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and like many other people, was totally inspired.

But I’m wondering if this is necessarily a good thing.

Let me explain. I live in California, where we have lots of farmer’s markets open year round. Theoretically this is great. Lots of fresh, local produce available. Except that I’ve noticed something. These farmer’s markets seem to becoming more spectacle than useful–the produce is more expensive than I’d pay in a store (even certain organic stores) and half the booths are already prepared food to eat there. Now, there’s nothing wrong with this on first glance, but it worries me that we’re creating a two seperate spheres of food.

So much emphasis has been put on eating local/sustainable food that it’s become trendy to certain people. And a lot of those people? Have money. So of course that food becomes more expensive, because there are people willing to pay the price. But by doing this, aren’t we really worsening the food culture of our country?

Right now, we have a system where the middle-to-upper class can go to farmer’s markets and good grocery stores and buy nice local produce and meat and cheese and whatever. But other people, people with less money are still stuck with the cheap, junky food. Food that’s available in supermarkets and convenience stores. And that’s not right.

I think of Anthony Bourdain, and how he frequently writes that some of the best food is peasant food, food made from some of the worst parts of the animal that tastes delicious because people found a way to season and cook it and make it good. We’re losing–or have already lost–that part of our food culture I think, because now poverty doesn’t mean beans and rice and cheap cuts of pork or beef, it means Wonder bread and McDonalds and soda for $0.50 for a 2 liter bottle.  I also think of some of the health problems that disproportionately affect lower income people in our society. Part of that has to do with lack of access to healthcare, but it also has to do with the fact that the cheap, available food in this country is crap! Now, I’m not saying that rice and beans and cheap cuts of meat are an ideal diet–they aren’t. But they’re better than fries and Big Mac.

So my worry is this–it seems like so much emphasis is being put on individual choices and, as the American way, relying on the system of capitalism. If we eat it, they will sell it. Yes–but only to a select few. That’s great for luxeries, but shouldn’t be the case for necessities. I wonder if there isn’t more we can do–building local community programs that make good food accessible and affordable, for instance.

Beyond that, why aren’t we demanding more from our government? The more interested I’ve become in this, the more I’ve started trying to understand the way our government regulates the food industry, and from what I’ve seen it doesn’t look so hot. Why aren’t we demanding change? Not as individuals, but getting organized! Because you know what–as a citizen of this country, I think we should ALL have access to affordable, healthy food that comes from THIS COUNTRY. So why not give incentives to farmers who sell produce to stores in low-income areas in their communities instead of giving them subsidies to produce massive amounts of one or two crops, the majority of which don’t even wind up as food? Why not get rid of the stupid, picky regulations that disproportionately affect small farmers and don’t really have much bearing on the actual quality of food? I can honestly tell you that I care less if the slaughterhouse has a seperate bathroom and office for the FDA inspector, and more about the fact that the cows weren’t factory-farmed and killed in cruel and inhumane fashion.  Why not require that food labels are accurate? I’m on the fence about genetically modified food, but I would like to be able to make the decision to eat it on my own. Why don’t we demand these things?

I don’t know. Maybe people are and I just don’t know about it. But really?  I think we need to stop patting ourselves on the back for buying the $5 organic, local arugula then forgetting about the rest of it. Healthy, good food should not the privlege of the wealthy, and those of us who do have the luxury of being able to think about these things should start speaking up for the people who don’t.

Tarot Card of the Day: Seven of Pentacles