Comments on: The Privilege of Prioritizing Organic Food

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:22:00 +0000

While this yoga community doesn’t have a clue, there’s one aspect you failed to address. Eating organic and local is not just about a person’s health, it’s about the health of the planet. Growing conventional is just too polluting. We owe it to the environment to eat as sustainably as we can.

That said, I’m about as broke as broke can be. And I mean, broke! But I eat mostly vegan and organic and preferably local when I can. The yoganistas were right about one thing…you have to make it a priority. For me that means going to several different places to shop, including visiting the farmers’ market around closing to get good deals, and planning my meals around what is cheap. It’s time consuming yes, but it’s a priority for me.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:37:00 +0000

Anna, I hope that you get paid to write this and other articles and can pay your bills. Because you are wonderfully articulate.

By: DanaeK

DanaeK — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:31:00 +0000

Thank you, so so much for this. I am a freshman in college that is trying hard to make this issue more prominent and noticed rather than constantly getting shut down with the “make it a priority” comment in response to my arguments of having privilege while eating organic, natural etc. Those like me, living paycheck to paycheck prioritizing means simply getting food in my stomach no matter what it is, and keeping a roof over my head. I am taking a class on food/economics and sustainability currently and have to write a paper on anything having to do with these topics. I am focusing mine on this issue, hoping to make it a more visible issue.

By: Elaine

Elaine — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 21:25:00 +0000

Thank you. You have spoken for poor people. I suppose I could prioritize my life in order to buy organic. Let’s see….I could pay only half my light bill, or water bill. I can’t stop eating out because I don’t eat out in the first place. Should I cut out those pricey dried beans that make up the main part of my diet? I’m so sick of hearing all the whimsical ways to make a dollar out of fifteen cents. Should I get rid of the cable? There is no cable to get rid of. How about this computer? It’s not mine, so I can’t. Should I find a cheaper place to buy clothes? Mine are all from yard sales and the Goodwill. How about cheaper makeup? I don’t wear makeup. After my bills are paid there is little left and that goes to food. I can’t buy organic, for two people, on about thirty dollars a week. I can’t even make my own bread because (1) I don’t have an oven and (2) the price of the yeast is higher than the cheap bread. I feel sorry for these people who make these smarmy, holier-than-thou remarks towards those who cannot afford to buy organic. One day they may be digging a hole in the ground, gathering dowfall, burning it to coals, so that they can cook their dried beans. They may be wearing clothes that don’t quite fit and don’t go together. They may be getting the sermons from those who have never gone hungry or without enough heat in the winter. The poor are hidden. No one sees us, except for the other poor in our non-organic grocery stores, and in our second hand stores. There’s a lot of us. These preachers of organicness may be one of us some day.

By: Deborah Pannell

Deborah Pannell — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:06:00 +0000

You have articulated this issue so well. I have been one of those who has exercised my privilege to eat organic for many years. Now that things have gotten tighter, I’m finding that I can’t always afford the organic stuff anymore and am compromising more and more. Bravo for putting this out here. I too feel alienated from people who just assume that all choices are based on intelligence or commitment or having your priorities in the right place. There are plenty of us who want to do better, but just don’t have the means. And I know that there are multitudes of people who have it worse than me.

PS – A little humility goes a long way…

By: Chezyman888

Chezyman888 — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:29:00 +0000

I was so surprised about how much more money the organic foods cost compared to conventional. Yes organic is better for you, but the big problem we are all noticing these days, is that some people just can’t have access to it. It cost almost TWICE as much. A family in poverty might not even have enough money to buy conventional food, let along organic.

By: Lia

Lia — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:12:00 +0000

I was so surprised about how much money the organic foods were than the regular foods. I realized how lucky I was to have access to organic foods.

By: Artemis

Artemis — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:12:00 +0000

Not everyone has the amount of money needed for organic food. They need to make choices about the food they eat. If it’s a big family they may need to buy ten apples with pesticides rather than five apples without pesticides.

By: Ashlinn

Ashlinn — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:06:00 +0000

About 40% of Americans dip under the poverty line at least once a decade. How can these people expect to buy only organic foods? I feel like OrganicTrade didn’t even read your article. Yes, organic is better for you, but the big problem we’re all noticing these days is that some people just can’t have access to it. It’s the way life is. There’s always going to be someone who can’t reach the goal. In the yoga class, the instructor (instead of answering the lady’s question) reinforced the necessity of eating organic. That wasn’t an answer. It was a statement, a true one, but not a helpful one.

By: Ndejonge17

Ndejonge17 — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:01:00 +0000

I think that people who have the organic food places need to space them out way more and not just have them in one space. For example there is only 1 grocery store open in ward 4 so people there don’t have access to good food.