Jul 22 2008
Making local eating bourgie and unattainable
The photo shows a stereotypical farmer, plaid shirt and overalls front and center. In the background, a table full of young professionals gathered around a laptop. Welcome to the new picture of a locavore…
An article in the New York Times details a growing trend in local eating, a trend that many would call the Lazy Locavore movement. More to the point, this trend is based on disposable income more than laziness, and injects an unneeded class distinction into local foods.
The article picks up the false argument that local food always costs more, therefore it should be in the realm of the upper classes to purchase it or have it grown for them. Installed gardens (with maintenance packages), home deliveries of pre-cooked local stews and personal chefs may unnecessarily become the new faces of local eating. Attempts to build community based, income-irrelevant food systems have to stay above the class divide and focus on ways to bring local eaters together and make local food attainable to anyone who wants it.
3 responses so far
The article picks up the false argument that local food always costs more, therefore it should be in the realm of the upper classes to purchase it or have it grown for them.
Ugh. Not one person I know that’s livin’ la vida local is above middle class. Most of us (the ones I know, that is) are low-middle.
I’m both annoyed and kinda psyched that local is catching on in a big way. But ya know what? This wider trend (I’m afraid) will pass, and in 15 years or so we’ll see these newer converts offending my olfactory boundaries with their Giorgio and sporting big bangs. The male “popped” collar’s already back, after all.
(Now, get off my lawn.)
(I don’t say “livin’ la vida local” by the way. It just popped out in a moment of silly)
‘a completely local diet is out of reach for even the most dedicated’….I like this one.