Are you ready for $4/gallon gasoline and what it’s going to do to our food prices?
A local newscast quickly jarred me back into reality this morning with a story about rising prices – punctuated by photos of casual, unconcerned grocery shoppers. Yesterday, I paid $2.85/gallon and realized that although we are all groaning about gas prices, we are starting to accept the inevitable.
This is an especially timely topic for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Dr. King’s keen interest in economic justice was highlighted in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech. He noted that the poor had become invisible, which was – and is - a problem for all of us: our lives are intertwined in a single destiny. We are all interdependent.
Dr. King drew inspiration from Mohandas Gandhi, whose philosophy of Swadeshi also focused on economic justice and how to attain it. Swadeshi, described as “localized economics” or “self-sustainability,” was a focal point for the Indian revolution. Make local, buy local, take care of local needs first.
His view on local economies is certainly controversial in this day and age of global economics:
"It is sinful to eat American wheat and let my neighbor, the graindealer, starve for want of customers. Similarly, it is sinful for me to wear the latest finery of Regent Street when I know that if I had but worn the things woven by the neighboring spinners and weavers, that would have clothed me, and fed and clothed them." http://www.workingvillages.org/1c.html
I’m not isolationist by any means. But it seems that we are so focused on corporate profit, and on trade with and aid to other countries, that we are forgetting about the needs of our own citizens.
It’s important to remember that all of us bear some responsibility for our situation. All too often, our sense of self-worth is based on what we own and what others do not. We demand cheap food so that we can spend the rest of our money on things that we think make us feel “better” about ourselves - and so that we can eat as much as we want. Our food demands, and our sense of entitlement to whatever we want, no matter what time of year, keep big agriculture running. We “need” Florida strawberries in December and inexpensive lettuce from California year-round.
What we don’t see is our potentially crippling level of dependence on shipments of food from hundreds or thousands of miles away. If transportation and distribution channels were shut down for 2 to 3 days, most cities in this country would run out of food. We have abandoned our season-dependent local farmers for the slick packaging and unvarying products offered by third-party distributors.
This is the Year of the Locavore. Now more than ever, it is important to buy local and eat local. It’s certainly better for our health. When you truck fruits and vegetables across the country, and consume them weeks after they were picked, their nutrient level is depleted.
Do you find that eating local seems to be difficult because of price? Buy less, and you will find that it becomes a little easier. Eat higher quality meat – but less. Buy local produce – but less - and only buy what you’ll actually use. (Think about how much money you’ve wasted on vegetables that sat in your refrigerator until they were shriveled beyond recognition.) You’ll be supporting your local food system, which in turn will grow to meet the increasing demand.
Growing at least a little of your own food makes it even easier. Don’t have a space for a garden? What about one container – clay pot, cookie tin left over from Christmas, plastic salad container? Even if you have no yard space and very limited sunlight, you can grow something. You’ll find that it feels good. You’ll begin to understand that you could grow your own food and control what goes in your body. You won’t feel like you’re being held hostage by industrial farms and manufacturing companies who imbue your food with chemicals, pesticides and herbicides.
Stay tuned for future “how to” posts that will help you start taking control of your food supply. And remember, be the ultimate locavore: Grow Your Own!
