The Politics of Food

Last week, I came home early from work. It was a warm day, which made me itchy for spring, so I went into my miniscule backyard to inspect the progress of the buds on the trees. I heard a couple of neighbors chatting, so I wandered over for a quick "hey." I had to go back in to grade papers, but we talked briefly about the weather and the buds. I said that I couldn't wait for the farmer's market to open and that I wanted to join a CSA this year. Long pause. The thought bubbles over their heads read, "Laura is off her meds."

Ezra Klein writes about Alice Waters and the food movement. She hopes to have found a friend in the White House and is pushing her agenda of locally grown, organic food. But is it realistic, especially in this economy? Klein quotes Bourdain.

Chef-author Anthony Bourdain recently took direct aim at Waters' "let them eat artisanal cheese" tendencies, complaining to the Web site DCist, "We're all in the middle of a recession, like we're all going to start buying expensive organic food and running to the green market. There's something very Khmer Rouge about Alice Waters that has become unrealistic."

Food is not a priority to most people. Pressed for time and energy, most people are going through the drive-through window at Wendy's. Even if it was cheaper and more readily available, kale and okra are only important to the intellectual fringe. And people don't want to hear about it. They don't want the guilt. Vegetable-guilt drives people to Sarah Palin's rallies.

A little commonsense needs to be on the menu.