Subsidizing ourselves into obesity

So someone mentioned they were really digging my blog- and someone else tagged it who I totally didn't know was reading and suddenly my little anonymous blogging world is public! I had no idea- I was using the blog for a vent, making my husband read it occasionally, and generally getting my verbal brained ya-yas out. A person could get a big head from finding out that not only are people taking the time to read your insanely long rants, they actually enjoy them....whoa. Head rush.

I'm still trying to figure out the local food issue. I visited the organic/wholefoods/neo-hippie market today. Two things got me- one was their prices were insane! Still haven't reconciled it within myself why it costs more to eat food that is made with less ingredients. I mean I get the whole "organic" label and how much work it involves making sure you aren't using seed for your crops for your free grazing dairy cows that hasn't been genetically modified- (let's forget that you are busting your butt to make sure your cows are eating fresh grown pasture everyday making their milk so far superior to any industry milk alternative). The other thing was how much of their produce in June still came from Chile, Guatemala, Mexico et al. They don't have the excuse of being some large supermarket chain unable to change policy in the local arena either. They are a stand alone store. They may have like one other outpost somewhere near hippie heaven- Asheville, but I am certain they aren't a chain. I also discovered that eating local foods makes you a localvore- (although I like localterian better) and that growing your own food makes you a gardener, not a farmer. (A farmer sells his food for profit. )

Now that I have investigated things a little- I found out one factor in the price discrepancy. Enter the US government. For years, starting in the 1930's, the gov't has operated with a farm bill that loaned farmers money to cover their costs in lean years, which the farmers repaid in good years. In the 70's that evolved into flat out subsidies, not to be repaid, things that keep the prices low on commodity crops like corn, wheat and soy. The large manufacturing industrial food people like this system- they get all the high fructose corn syrup they need for a cheap price. So now, it's cheaper to make a twinkie with 39 ingredients than it is to make bread with 5 ingredients. And what's more, the organic food grower in central Iowa that produces a variety of organic produce with sustainable methods has to pay about $1500 to prove he really is being organic, while the mega corporate corn farmer next door gets paid $75,000 on top of whatever profit he makes, to turn out bushel upon bushel of soil depleting corn. The foods that make you fat are also the cheapest. Beef raised in a feed lot, fed with previously mentioned bushels of corn and treated with gallons of antibiotics and steroids is still cheaper than the beef of a grass-fed free range cow. Starts to make your head spin. Add to it that lots of products labeled Organic are coming from China, and its enough to make you go buy a goat. In the end- it costs more to eat less produced foods- enter the paradigm of the $.99 cheeseburger.

So I am more committed than ever to eating local, but still trying to figure out where to find it all- meat in particularly. (And then, what do I feed my very picky kindergartner who mostly only likes pizza and chicken nuggets?) It's just hard to figure out what might make a difference and how my putting my family through the strain of giving up Jimmy Dean frozen, 1 minute microwavable sausage biscuits is going to make a dent in what is a ginormous and global issue. (I tag Susan for reintroducing me to the ginormous word). I am told to write my congressman- and ask at my local supermarket (where the manager told me he isn't allowed to sell locally grown peaches- just the ones that they truck in from California). I also keep running into great resources like www.whattoeatbook.com; it's a good blog about this sort of stuff- I should probably read the book too. I also keep balancing the reasons for eating local food and came up some reasons that might affect my decision, but I'll save those 6 localterian criteria for next post....