(Sigh)

Permit me to dispute (I just like arguing with Peacebang, in part).

It is true that the bulk (yeah, that’s a pun of mild intent) of the population is eating junk. It’s also true that the American population at large (oh, again) is not yet so economically stressed that we are driven to having no choice. We are not unable to find, or afford, better choices than we currently make.

Not perfect choices, just better ones.

So I think that decrying the efforts of those who are trying to eat in ways that are demonstrably more healthy (even as we dispute amongst ourselves about which more healthy is most healthy, most ethical, most ecologically pure) is unfair. If that class of people, who are disproportionately (but far from exclusively the upper middle class (and some of the upper, but still middle-middle, class) doesn’t start paying to make these choices… essentially no one farther down the economic spectrum will be able to.

Those with the disposable income to afford eating better and more responsibly will drive down the price. In the same way that early adopters of DVD players allowed the market to develop, these folks are making the market for better food options something that people can find… even if it is, for now, in many (but not all) places more expensive to do so.

And sometimes, the outrageous cost is simply gouging; you might find those local-grown, organic fruits and vegetables at some less obvious and upscale source… for significantly less. We often pay more for… um… fashion and style (oh, sorry, PB…) and for convenience. Especially for convenience.

Economic justice doesn’t mean that you can’t spend your income to have something that someone else can’t afford, or something that someone else can’t find–or doesn’t know exists. It means working to help the rest of the world get access to the resources so that they too are able to make THEIR own choices, so that they have a fair degree of control over their lives as well.

In this case, I see an ethic of self-deprivation developing that won’t serve any meaningful purpose, beyond fueling a Very Model of A Modern Unitarian attitude. Depriving ourselves of foods and food choices that we see and understand to be better for our own health and better for the planet’s health… because those choices are not yet available equitably to all… isn’t going to make them become more available or more affordable.

It’s important to hit multiple problems at the same time. If someone’s starving, then the fact that the food they can get, that someone can afford to give them, isn’t as high-quality, high-morality, as one would like… is really trivial. One must do the best one can, now. And at the same time be pushing to make the options the next time–or the next–be better.

I’m pragmatic before I’m purist.

PB asks:
“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?”

Insofar as that’s either or, I abjure the question as a false (and unfair) dichotomy. If it were “shouldn’t we feed the crying, hungry baby before we make ourselves dinner?” I would not complain. But the truth is that we’re not going to solve either… no, it’s not just two… ANY of the entangled problems here in one swoop. Not in a day, or week, or month–or year. I’ll go on record doubting that it can be done in a decade (alas!).

So I opt for a pragmatic effort to roll back each of these at the same time, in the firm belief that there are synergies that we’ll find, improvements in each will make improvements in the others more possible.

And… no. I’ve rambled enough. If I’m going to get on a soapbox, I should actually sit down and write and think and edit instead of just pouring my head into a post. I’ve still got all the dense stuff from a sermon I gave today on classism and sin in my head, and it’s pinging around with all the food projectiles.

I’m going to go have some soup and salad and maybe find enough motivation for a post on my own blog. Or if not, a nap.

s/ Defensor Omnivores

Also, legislative work to eliminate transfats should make a real difference in public health.

A Woman of the Cloth

Thanks for calling attention to this issue!

My congregation here on WI is plotting (literally) organic pea patches for community use. There are very few here. We may put one in at our new building and offer free or extra-low-cost produce at some point.

It also occurs to me that low income folks don’t necessarily feel comfortable using the food stamps, even though they are an option here. Some states have a debit-like card instead of stamps. We need to make the whole process less demeaning.

That aside, I completely agree with PB’s comments - it’s very easy to get caught up in the self-righteousness of buying free-range organic carrots, and forget our neighbors.