Food

This year I am living with a couple girls that are big into eating healthily. They understand that what we eat can have horrible consequences for our bodies (now and later) and that consuming healthy and nutritious food is one of the most important and responsible things we can do to care for ourselves.

A little while ago, Eva handed me a book called The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollen. I started reading it, and in the first few pages I found $100 Córdobas! Educating myself about food was already paying off! : ) But really…in the book he tries to answer the questions what is it that we are really eating and what is it that we should be eating. His book includes research that he has done on everything from the large subsidized corn and soybean monocrop fields to the sickening conditions of cattle and chicken raising to even the problems that exist in ¨organic¨ products.

Pollen starts off by criticizing the way we as a society view and consume food. He writes that U.S. Americans spend less of a percentage of their budget on food than other countries. Is this because food is cheaper in the U.S. than other countries or is it because we value food and nutrition less than other things like material objects? If it is the former, is this cheaper food actually good food? If it is the latter, how can we fail to see that the food we consume must be more important than buying the latest iPhone? Pollen seems to feel that we in the U.S. chose the latter. We consume food as fast as possible—from microwaves, in cars, and on the go. We do not think about what it is we are eating. And when we do stop to ask the questions, we get confused by all the different and latest diets and crazes, moving quickly from one to the other.

Also, he believes that we don´t seem to have a very good idea of where it is that our food comes from or the processing, preservatives, and additives that go into making it shelf-ready. Should we care more about whom it was that raised the chicken we are eating and how they raised those chickens? Should we really avoid eating foods that have so many strange extra things added to them? Pollen says yes. He writes that the more processing our food undergoes, the more energy and petroleum we waste in that process (something which is obviously more costly for the environment than non-processed, non-packaged foods, fresh foods). He argues the same for foods that are shipped across the U.S. or even imported, stating that even organic foods can be seen as harmful to the environment if you just look at how much petroleum it took to move them from one side of the country to the other.

In the end, Pollen seems to stress that we should look for seasonal, locally grown, organically produced, un-modified foods. And when it comes to animals, we should search for the healthier, less fatty meat of those that were pasture fed. By eating this way, we can ensure that we are doing the best to care for our precious bodies and the world we live in.

This is all good and great, and I learned this and so much more from the book, but I found myself having difficulties practicing it all—especially in light of being here in Nicaragua. Some of it is easy—they have quite a lot of fruits, veggie, beans, and rice that were produced here in Nicaragua and brought to the market with minimal shipping. However, there is really no organic option whatsoever. But even if there were an organic option, would we have enough money in our small food budget to buy it? How far do we go with food solidarity? Can we justify spending so much more money on a bottle of olive oil or real butter because that would be healthier than the cheaper vegetable oil or margarine that our coworkers would have to buy on their small salaries?

I am coming to learn that the topic of food justice is more complicated than simply keeping someone from starving. Even while the organic market is getting bigger in the U.S., who is it that has the privileged access to this healthier, better food? If what we consume is one of the most important things we can do for our bodies, our health, and our quality of life, we must make good, healthy food more accessible.

Tara, my housemate, has been talking with me about a program she worked with last year in Spokane, WA through Catholic Charities that was working to set up Farmers Markets in poorer neighborhoods nearby. They even set up an agreement with the government as to allow SNAP or food stamps to be accepted there! Pretty cool!

Anyway, I am very open to hearing any thoughts you have or reading recommendations. If anyone knows of other programs like the one Tara worked with, I would be interested in seeing what they are all about, too! Thanks!