we all eat. . .

“You eat. Willingly or not you participate in the environment of food choice. The choices you make about food are as much about the kind of world you want to live in as they are about what to have for dinner.”
Marion Nestle – What to Eat

Food is political. If there is money to be made our government gets involved. It is subject to lobbies and interest groups. The dairy council – do they have your best interest in mind? Can the University of Illinois tell us, honestly, what effect soy has on our bodies when Illinois is the largest producer of soy beans in the nation?

I have been reading What to Eat, and I am reminded of how complicated food is. I imagine what food was before it was industrialized. I dream about the deconstruction of this food system that we have become so marginalized by in the last 60 years. It is all about the money, this is a hard thing to overcome. Profit and expansion above the well being of the consumer, this is a depressing situation. How do we know what to eat?

I am passionate about food. I work for a natural foods co-op dedicated to providing our customers with the products they want to buy. In this there is a catch 22. The marketing efforts cloaked by science convince people of what they want when sometimes this is not a healthy or sustainable option. We certainly offer better options and in particular the bulk, meat, and produce departments offer an oasis of real food. The cheese and dairy sections are filled with healthy options.  I shop almost exclusively in these departments when looking for food. The peril that lies in the grocery aisles is terrifying.

There are some things. . . vinegars and olive oils, pasta and sauce, locally baked breads, fair trade coffee, tea and chocolate – that I love and find their way into my basket when I shop. If we take a look at the categories where people expect a lot of options, things get scary.  In the frozen department, I will by fruits and vegetables but can not bring myself to settle on a meal in box – this somehow violates my sensibilities with regards to what real food is.

I dream of stores that have only things called ‘Real Food.’ What would that look like? Do you ever read the labels when you shop? It was a few years ago that I decided that if I picked up a jar of tomato sauce and saw it was full of mysterious, unpronouncable things that I could not eat it. Imagine a place where you don’t have to worry about the man made ingredients in your food.