Socially and Ecologically Responsible Agriculture Network

[Douglas Hinds <cedecor AT gmx.net>]

Hello Robert,

In response to your SERAnet / sanet post sent Friday, May 7, 2004 in
which you stated:

RM> I am seeking perspectives on the accusations of many that organic food
RM> has become elitist food.

It seems to me that in order to discuss whether or not organic food
has in fact become elitist, your use of the world "elitist" must
first be defined.

For instance: By elitist, do you mean that the cost of organic food
is excessive in relation to the cost of non-organic food or to the
income of most of those that purchase food to eat?

Also, when you say organic, are you referring to the meaning
"organic" took on since the federal OFPA took affect (certified by a
USDA accredited certifier), or are you referring to the original
meaning, which described a set of principles and practices that
motivated the farmer and were used during the crop's cultivation.

Also, the purpose of your inquiry seems important. IOW, how much
does it matter whether organic food is elitist or not, and what if
anything can or should be done about it; which brings to the need to
understand the factors that may be making organic food elitist,
beginning with the fact that most people chose to live in urban
areas.

Lastly, is organic food the only viable option? If not, what
alternatives are available and how do they compare?

RM> ...Whole Foods [and] ... Chez Panisse ... These
RM> consumer outlets attract a disproportionate share of the
RM> well-to-do and intellectual elite in the United States.

RM> I can see how local agricultural-based bartering economies can
RM> be much healthier from both a social and ecological perspective,
RM> especially in a international context. When you try to carry
RM> these same ideals into a modern anonymous consumer context, it
RM> fails. You end up with an epicurean, idealist,
RM> lefty-intellectual, elitist, cultural and economic manifestation
RM> that does little to forward the real aims of a sustainable food
RM> system.

If what you state above is true, the would be little point to
initiating the endeavor mentioned in my last post, and obviously
that is not my belief. Although the problem you describe may well be
real, it doesn't necessarily follow that it can't be dealt with.

You are probably aware that SERAnet co-moderator and head of the
Cherokee Small Farm Project Kathy Carter-White also figures in the
Oklahoma Food Cooperative, along with sanet member Robert Waldrop.
Perhaps one of them can comment on the situation that motivated your
post.

RM> Realizing on the one hand that real organic farmers, really
RM> great communities, and healthy landscapes are being supported and
RM> promoted by the likes of Whole Foods, yet when I go into these markets,
RM> I notice a conspicuous lack of the working class and any real
RM> diversity.

Why is that so? Is it the prices? Is Whole Foods intentionally
installing it's markets in neighborhoods populated by persons of a
similar socioeconomic-cultural character? Is it the type of
advertising that's being used?

<snip>

RM> Please someone inform me how this will play out in the long run.

RM> My gut feeling is that we are still doing nothing to remedy the
RM> same old divisive tendencies of society. Those who eat well and
RM> those who don't, those who have clean water and air, and those
RM> who don't, etc., etc.. What about those who are too poor to even
RM> know that organic and sustainability issues are even a problem,
RM> and those who, like myself, carry on at length on the subject,
RM> all the while sipping my organic soy latte in an upscale urban
RM> oasis.

I think you're right. I sincerely believe you would probably be
better off going outside and shovelling a little dirt and then
planting something.

RM> So as not to be taken in the wrong spirit, I should also state that I
RM> recognize that the alternative is ecological and social death at the
RM> hands of the military/industrial/agrichemical machine.  The spirit of my
RM> post is one of inquiry rather than a statement of knowledge or insight. 
RM> I am a committed consumer of local and organic products because I just
RM> feel it is right, although something worries me about the direction it
RM> is taking in the marketplace.

I can sympathize with that. And as I see it, the roots of the
problem go far beyond the criteria you've mentioned here. The
problem is real, but can only be dealt with at a deeper, more basic
level.

For instance: Are you aware that natural resources were privatized
in the USA and that this is not the case in most other countries?
Are you considering the effect that the lack of land reform has on
US culture? As things stand, what percentage of the population is
able to own enough land to farm on (or even grow their own food),
and how much land is required in order to make a living at it?

Furthermore, can a non-affluent citizen afford the cost of running
for public office?

My point Robert, is that while the problem you refer to does in fact
exist, the roots of it run deeper that that manifestations you
referred to. When a small minority of affluent conglomerates are
able to manipulate governmental agencies charged with protecting to
public good, what you get is a society that's not united by the
basic phenomena that made the indigenous tribes cohesive.

When the important things in life are neither protected nor made
sacred, when you discover that the exploitation of natural and human
resources for the private gain of privileged few has kept most
people from the land and produced a culture in which individual
difference have been reduced to one of style, you might ask yourself
"what else can you expect"?

RM> P.S.  Rereading my post I realize that I fail to mention that I see the
RM> same divisions, although more subtle, in small food coops and even
RM> CSA's.  I did not want to indict Whole Foods as the cause of this. 
RM> These outlets are just too expensive or to meet the daily food needs of
RM> most people.  Please enlighten me!

As per your request, I've given you an honest appraisal. Finally,
difficult though it may be, a remedy for all of these deviations is
within reach.

A good place to start might be doing all you can to KEEP GWB
(back on his Texas ranch).

Douglas Hinds