The Sustainable Food Movements Dirty Little Secret
by TwoJunes
Part 1: Let’s face it, our dirty little secret—eating whole foods, eating locally or eating organic, sustainable, non-local is a very real class issue today. What you eat is directly related to how much money you make, how much time you have to source or grow food, your comfort level in cooking and your level of education to know what is “good” for you. We need to at least acknowledge this inescapable fact in the sustainable food movement. The choices we so confidently espouse for the health of humanity and the planet are not made easily by a huge segment of the population, particularly in this economic downturn.
Eating responsibly has many different faces, which is what I think Mark Bittman was recently getting at with his broccoli/hamburger example. He makes the very valid point that for large scale change to occur, it must first happen at the lowest common denominator—the supermarket. The average person must make that basic choice of a fresh vegetable or grain/legume staple over processed food. It seems easy, right? Just eat the broccoli, lady. But, even taking that most basic, seemingly mindless step isn’t as easy as it seems.
In the minimalist philosophy, a few ingredients and basic cooking skills are all that is needed to produce delicious meals. This is absolutely correct and desirable, yet still assumes you know how to chop, sauté, boil, bake, shop wisely, follow recipe instructions reasonably well, and then, have the time to do the dishes in your minimally equipped kitchen. It also assumes a ready and willing audience for the healthy food you produce. This is simply not true for a big segment of the population. Am I wrong here? Do other people out there have stories, data that would indicate otherwise? Stepping out beyond our charmed lives?
With sufficient time, a reasonably high level of cooking skill, maybe a kitchen garden, utilizing the farmer’s market and other local food sources, yes, it is possible for urban dwellers to both eat responsibly and to eat very well. This is TwoJune’s situation—but, to be honest, it takes a lot of time, is expensive, and is only accomplished without too much difficulty because there are two of us, we both cook professionally, one of us works from home and the other has a 9-to-5 professional career. And we don’t even have a child—yet.
Next Tuesday, Part 2: we examine the very real difficulties encountered by the working poor, particularly single parents, in preparing simple, home-cooked meals.
Lisa Bell is a freelance producer, writer and editor. She spent the first fifteen years of her working life as a pastry chef, recipe developer, test kitchen director, food stylist and print editor. She has also taught cooking classes, run a small cooking school, and worked as a food scientist. Nicole Rees currently works as a baking scientist. She is also a food writer and cookbook author specializing in baking science. Her most recent book Baking Unplugged, is filled with simple, scratch recipes that require no electric gadgets beyond an oven.
Tags: Children's food choices, Convenience foods, Cooking and health, Economic elite, Food and politics Education and food, Food choices, Healthy food choices, Industrial food, Informed food choices, Making food choices, Poverty and food, Unhealthy food choices
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13 Comments
Yes, such truth…for the food justice and social justice movements to collide, we must ask these questions and seek answers for at the moment, we are shutting a lot of people out. Whether people are being “selfish” is up for debate, but no one has ever gotten someone to see the light by blaming them for the ills of the world.
Good questions. I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now. I’ve been a chef volunteer instructor at the Oregon Food Bank for a few years now, struggling with these issues. The meals we prepare are fairly fast, inexpensive, tasty and nutritious. But are they sustainable? You are right, it boils down to how much money you have to spend on food. You have to make choices. When you can get a gallon of non organic milk for less money than half a gallon of organic, it’s kind of a no brainer when you’re trying to feed your family on food stamps. The positive thing I’ve noticed over the last few years is that prices have dropped on many organic and sustainably grown products as demand has gone up. But you need access to the stores that sell these items. Try that when your closest store is a 7-11 and it takes an hour by bus to get to another store.
One strategy I use in class is the good, better, best model – suggested by Ellen, another instructor. For instance, beans. Canned refried beans for a burrito are good. Better would be plain canned beans that you season yourself. Best would be dried beans that you cook a batch of for a few meals in advance, saving you time and money. Another is cooking in batches and freezing extra servings. Or cooking with friends and splitting the proceeds – or swapping servings.
Is sustainable food elitist? Seems like it right now, kind of the way hybrid cars are so expensive. But by having the people who can afford them buying them, it helps develop and lower the cost of the technology. The same seems to be happening with organics. The food bank has a learning garden where they teach garden skills. Food stamps will cover the cost of seeds and plant starts. One technique they teach is gardening in buckets, which is great if you have some sun and a deck.
These issues are important to me – sorry if I’m rambling, I could go on like this for hours, but it’s time to go make some sustainable, organic, labor intensive food for dinner.
Great topic that is rarely discussed. Not only have we wipted out the arts from our schools, but home ec, which seems so old fashioned, sounds like a good idea again. I totally agree that amongst a lot of daunting factors, one of the basic issues is education which is inextricably linked to socia-economic oppression. Thanks for posting! Looking forward to Part 2.