Dear Shopper: I listened today to an interview with journalist Michael Pollan that aired recently on the public radio show The Splendid Table. In the interview, Pollan talked about the issue of making healthy food affordable for all — or at least a larger segment of the population. He addressed the elitism of the “buy fresh, local and organic” movement by reminding us that many movements in this country which ultimately benefited the entire country were begun by people with time and money to spare. And while I did not agree with his analogy to the suffragette movement, I do believe that those of us who understand the long-term benefits for everyone of returning to locally produced food are raising awareness and creating demand. That demand will in turn lead to more people having access to locally produced food.
Pollan also contends that the cheap food in this country is part of a “false economy” in which the average person does not pay the real cost of food — which should include the health and environmental damage done to ourselves and our planet. The false economy also does not include the subsidies that we all pay to the growers of that cheap, unhealthy food. That reminded me of the letter that Sen. McCain and friends wrote to our Secretary of Agriculture in support of those subsidies and against any tax dollars going to support small farmers.
If we really want to be part of the movement, we all need to do more than just pledge to eat better, buy local and support our local farmers and food purveyors. We need to get involved in the issue in other ways too. Smart Markets is working right now to put together a policy forum to take place in early fall for the purpose of developing some legislative initiatives for our own Virginia state senators and delegates to take to their respective agriculture committees in Richmond next January. We will need help to plan and host such an event, and then we will need help to write up what we would like our representatives to introduce. If you would like to work with us over the next few months, please let me know by replying to this newsletter.
State Senator Chap Peterson told me that the Ag Committee never hears from the farmers because they have not organized. But it can hear from those of us who support the farmers and their access to farmers’ markets — and we can use the farmers’ market network around the state to lobby for the initiatives that we deem important and the bills that we hope to write. I am reaching out to the farmers now and others who work on these issues, and we will have lots of things to talk about at the forum.
We are also looking to host a dinner at the Reston market for the primary purpose of inviting Senator McCain and friends to actually meet some of those “part-time, urban elitist farmers” who sell at our markets. I realize, of course, that they probably will not grace us with their presence; but we can still make our point and maybe draw even more attention to their position on the Know Your Farmer Program. I am guessing that there are local farmers in just about every state in the Union who would be insulted by the tone of the letter and angered by the implication of losing the piddling sum of USDA assistance monies they now receive.
This is the kind of consciousness-raising that can lead to that wider spectrum of people becoming involved in the movement that Michael Pollan referenced. Every movement needs a rallying point — the letter is a great one — and we are in the midst of a perfect storm of social, economic and political forces in this area that can be used to demonstrate that this is an issue which affects us all. If all that comes of it is more attention being paid to the issue, that is good enough for me. How about you?
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