Assignment 3

In a world where there is an endless variety of foods available to us, at anytime of day or night, the question of what to eat for a meal is harder than it seems. Our society is so fast paced these days it tends to cause us to make choices for our meals based on conveniences. I thought it was so interesting to listen to Michael Pollan talk about how “cheap” food is not actually “cheap.” It comes at such a high cost when you factor in the price of transportation, the effects of pollution on the environment, and the sacrifice we are making of our health.
Will today in class was talking about the different tens of thousands of regulations that are implemented in the food industry regarding the handling and growing of foods, but nothing to do with the taste and nutrition. I think after reading Michael Pollan, and Marion Nestle, what to eat with every meal needs to start with thinking. We need to start slowing down and thinking long enough to plan out what we want to eat instead of grabbing something on a whim. When fast food is no longer a stable of an everyday diet, we save money, and help our health as well. We also need to be understanding where our food is coming from. The environment suffers when we buy food that has been shipped to different places twice over. Local food, or at least food that is coming from places closer to home, less gas is consumed and less emissions are produced. Michael Pollan, in the future of food special feature talks about the Dead Zone, and how it is resulting from fertilizer run-off going into the Gulf of Mexico and causing a hypoxic zone where nothing can grow. These are things that, having taken an Environmental Sustainability class I had heard about, but many people have no idea. Education is so important to the health of Americans. We need to be more aware about the things that are really bad for us. We need to have our government and the food industry not trying to help each other make a buck and make them start looking out for the health of our country! I get so angry when I think about how deceptive everything to do with the food industry is! I’m going to go ahead and say that Americans, in addition to eating more whole foods and knowing where our food is coming from, we need to be having education on food for our meals!
Coops are a good source for the types of changes that I am talking about. They are organized by people who are looking out for themselves and their friends, instead of looking to lie as much as possible to make a few bucks. I REALLY liked Will’s comment about coops during class in response to the question “what is the future of coops?” He said, “There is no future without coops.” I think according to the 7 principles coops can survive. There is evidence just in the amount of coops that are operating successfully throughout the U.S. Still continuing on the theme of education, I think this is fairly crucial to coops continued success. People need to be more aware of the service that coops are providing and the reason that this service is being provided. If more people were aware of how deceptive the food industry is being, and the type of loopholes that they have left in the food regulation system so things are most profitable for themselves, then more people would be interested in coops.
The future of the natural food industry I think would be on the rise. For the first time since Upton Sinclair’s book “The Jungle” I feel like the food industries secrets and deceptions are being revealed. With books like the ones we are reading in class and movies like Super Size Me, more people are aware of the sorts of loopholes that are being created and what that can mean for us and our health. The health of our Nation is the thing that many people are concerned with, especially with the admission that we are facing an obesity epidemic. When something is causing obesity or threatens our health and WE KNOW ABOUT IT (crucial point) people are likely to make a change. I was in the grocery store last year, looking for some bread. I was in the process of looking at just about every single loaf of bread from every brand, trying to find bread that lacked both dairy and high fructose corn syrup. There was another lady picking up loafs of bread before putting them back down. When we had worked our way from opposite sides of the bread display and were both near the middle, she commented in a disgruntled voice, “it’s impossible to find bread without f***ing high fructose corn syrup. It was exactly what I was thinking and I was tickled to see someone who was aware of its detriments and was looking for an alternative. My round about point is that natural foods are starting to become something that more American’s are starting to seek out. I think that it will take a while until natural foods are the norm, but people starting this movement towards demanding food that is good for us, and the environment is a huge start.
People having a say in what they are being sold is People’s Coop is an enormous strength in their market place. A nameless, faceless corporation deciding what is cool, good, acceptable (and profitable) is no longer going to be the norm. It is a laid back, personable environment that doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable to be there. You feel comfortable and happy to be there doing your shopping. All these things contribute to People’s niche in the marketplace. In the future, they don’t even have to be a series of chains, but maybe one more store on the west side of the river, or just doing a little more to let the people of Portland know that there is an alternative to corporate groceries. If I hadn’t had a friend who lived in the area, I would have never heard of People’s. They are tucked away with no possibility of broadening their member owner base if no more people know that they even exist. I don’t really know what I’m saying; those are just some of my random thoughts!