Cheating the Grocer

Whenever I go grocery shopping, I feel as if I have cheated the grocer.  Like I am getting away with way more food than I have paid for.  Which means that when I go back to the grocery store, I worry that the cheapness of the last time was a freak accident and that I won’t even have enough money to buy my food.

This happens while I am in the checkout line.  Today I had my okra, tomatoes, onions, sweet oranges, garbanzo beans, white lentils, black eyed peas, a ready-made opma breakfast mix, a soft-drink mango juice, and two candy bars.  Enough to feed me for a week, with the exception of perhaps a few more veggies along the way (I stocked up on my rices and spices long ago).  With the dried and packaged goods, gauging price is no problem because I can count up the stickers.  When it comes to fruits and veggies, though, I have no idea how to measure what it will cost.

I was not to worry today, though, because – whether by freak accident or by true math – my grand total was 196 rupees.  The conversion? $3.97.  Four dollars to feed me for a week.  My mind is racing as I walk home – I thought food prices are rising? Four dollars for a week? Man, if I bought this at home it would have cost so much money – who can I tell about my great buy?

Then, I look around.  I was walking through the slum area of my neighborhood, and immediately my thoughts changed.  196 rupees is, to the average Indian (according to purchasing power parity), a little more than $10.  Still not a bad deal if I would have bought my goods in America.  But my neighbors in this area may not make that in a day; perhaps not even in a week (I’m not positive on the socioeconomic status of the area I live). 

As I slowed down and looked around, stopped to chat with some children, my thoughts slowed down too.  They slowed and they transformed.  Now I become thankful, not just that I can buy so many fresh fruits and veggies for a “good price”, but that I am able to buy food.

Food (Part 1 of Many...)

Here in India, we grow our own food. And by we, I mean the organization. I have only done agriculture work once, but it was at 6am and I felt like I was more of a hindrance than a helper. However, the point is that I am eating absolutely delicious, fresh, organic food. They even kill their own chickens sometimes (ew. I haven’t volunteered for that job yet, but I appreciate the freshness).

This land of fresh food is the perfect ground for me to continue to learn about food, which is something that I have been more interested in since going gluten-free and reading the labels of foods, realizing how many nasty and unnecessary things are in our food. My interest in food increased when I articulated my passion for social justice, and desired to live as just a life as possible…and started to realize that most of the food that we eat comes at the cost or even life of those who are growing it. And that our food could be doing really harmful things to us as consumers, as well.

I am not really going to get into it much in this post, but here are some things that I encourage you to look into and that you can expect to hear about from me in the next couple months:

• - Eating organically. It’s better for you, better for the farmer, better for the earth.
• - Genetically Modified foods = nasty. Horrible for the livelihoods of farmers, for the natural development of crops, and for human and animal health. PLEASE THINK TWICE BEFORE PUTTING THESE INTO YOUR BODY.
• - Eating locally. It builds community, lets you know where your food came from and how it was grown, lets you eat foods that are in season, and cuts down on the use of fossil fuels and therefore decreases pollution.
• - Growing gardens. Oh man, I am so excited to do this. I want a garden SO BADLY. Those of you in the Twin Cities and interested in gardening should check out the organization Backyard Harvest (www.pricoldclimate.org/about_backyard_harvest) – I have already decided which of the gardeners I want to help me with my backyard harvest…and then we are going to get married J

So there’s just a few of my thoughts towards food…if you’re looking for a good book, check out Stuffed and Starved by Raj Patel. If you’re looking for a good documentary, check out Food, Inc. and I’m serious. I used to be one of the people who avoided movies like that because I’d rather not know all the dirty details about the food that I’m eating…yes, I was the ultimate example of “ignorance is bliss.” But then food did its permanent damage to my intestinal tract, and I’ve decided that it’s better to be informed…