26 May. This article still attracts a lot of traffic, probably from search engine results. It seems rather topical given the widely reported projected increases in the price of food and petroleum products and the conflict between the human food and ethanol fuel uses for corn. I’ve also updated the PeaceBang link.
The Rev. Victoria Weinstein, writing as PeaceBang, is a dear friend with whom I ordinarily agree. She wrote:
I’m just wondering this honestly, and with no sense of judgment (quelle surprise!), but honestly, as middle and upper-class Americans are running around trying to eat organic everything and grass-fed beef (if they eat beef) and full-moon harvested herbs and drinking biodynamic wine, isn’t it true that most of the people in our country are still eating mostly crap?
Shouldn’t we be working on justice issues that make basically, minimally healthful food available to more people before scurrying about trying to fill our own larders exclusively with organic and perfectly nutritious foodstuffs?
I certainly hear some judgment there: the kind of hand-wringing directed towards one’s peers where overstatements can be accepted as cheery ribbing. I hear twee stereotypes which conflate motives and aspirations.
Let me tell you where I’m coming from. I’m middle-aged and chunky. I’ve had to live on very little money in the past, but — even though I am currently unemployed and temping — Hubby and I enjoy a high quality of life and this extends to our foodways. Our bedroom literally overlooks the Whole Foods, so we shop there for food quite a bit. And the local Safeway. And the CVS two doors down from the Whole Foods. And the little neighborhood bodega. And the Seven-Eleven. And the farmer’s market on Sunday. We also eat out quite a bit. None of these gets a majority of our trade.
Continue reading “The healthy, sustainable diet”
