Socially and Ecologically Responsible Agriculture Network

[Robert McGuinn <rpm AT alumni.duke.edu>]

SERANET and SANET, 

An excerpt from a 2002 article by Jay Walljasper, editor-at-large of the
Utne reader is quoted below my post.  This excerpt is definitely on the
side that organic food is NOT elitist. Maybe the question is really,
'What does is mean to be elitist?'. My more nihilistic side says 'who
cares?'. 

Why is it that when I regularly buy more organic food, my food bill goes
up by 2 or 3 times.  I do not generally focus on the expensive processed
versions of organic food either, I usually shop for whole foods and cook
from scratch.  Even this type of shopping is cheaper, from a purely
'money out the door' perspective, in a conventional grocery store. 
Realistically, price really is the only factor for most people.  Guess
this is the same reason Bush is president.  

Jay Walljasper Wrote:  

"Since most of what winds up on U.S. supermarket shelves is heavily
processed and packaged, poor families see little savings on their food
bill. Low prices paid to Iowa farmers make very little dent in the cost
of corn flakes on the South Side of Chicago. "Processed foods are a lot
more expensive than organic whole foods," notes Jim Slama, president of
the Chicago-based environmental advocacy organization Sustain, noting
that farmers' markets, buying clubs, and community gardens can provide
low-income people healthier food at lower prices."

"Eager to settle once and for all the matter of whether he was a food
snob, Mark Muller turned to the dictionary, which defines snob as "one
who tends to patronize, rebuff, or ignore people." Industrial
agriculture seems to fit that definition far more than organic growers
and natural foods shoppers. Industrial agriculture rebuffs family
farmers and ignores obvious health and environmental concerns. And it's
nothing short of patronizing to try to pass off tomatoes you can bounce
off the floor and strawberries that taste like globs of dried toothpaste
as nutritious and tasty." 

The full link:

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13206

Robert McGuinn