Jay Dubya’s Recent Comments

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  It's all about priorities

  I've got two issues with this article: The first is stating what most people would recognize to be be obvious: most white people don't care about organic agriculture. The second is that I don't believe that organics are priced out of reach for everybody, minorities included. They may be for some, but I think that in many cases the price premium often cited as a reason to buy non-organic food is used as a cop-out by people who could afford to buy organic but choose to allocate their resources elsewhere. A few examples should underline these issues:

  Example 1: I have a friend (who is white) who makes three times as much money as I do and has recently bought a house, car, Xbox 360, and a 47 inch TV. One day though, I made the "mistake" of bringing homemade, organic guacamole when I went over to watch a football game. I mentioned the word organic and he began to grill me: "Why does organic cost so much more?" "What is the benefit?" "Why should I care?" The manner in which these questions were presented indicated that he was not truly interested in the answers to these questions, but that he was incensed at my audacity to promote organic food. He could certainly afford it but he, like almost every other white person I've ever met, would rather buy cheap food if it means that they can afford an Xbox 360 or drugs/alcohol.

  Example 2: There is a natural foods store that I go to that is right across the street from the most inexpensive apartments in the city. In these apartments, it is safe to say that about 20-25% of the occupants are white. No more than that. And the parking lot is filled with huge SUV's and moderately expensive cars. On the same side of the street as the natural foods store is a McDonald's, and a Wendy's is right across the street from that. One would think that the close proximity of the store to low-income housing would negate the argument that those stores are not accessible to minorities. The prices aren't too bad either. Between these two factors you might expect a higher-than average minority customer base, right?

  Think again. In the nearly two years I've shopped there, only on two occasions have I ever seen any black people shopping there. I've seen Asians there a few more times than that, but it is still a vastly lower number than the number of White people who shop there. Hispanics or Native Americans? Not one. With the price premium minimized and the geographic isolation limited, the local minorities still don't appear to care about organic food. In the meantime, McDonald's and Wendy's appear to be doing just fine, and in this area those places are majority non-white. Plenty of big SUV's and Cadillacs in the parking lot and drive-thru driven by people who can't afford organic food.

  And while most of the patrons of this particular store are white, they do actually seem to be an elitist few. I get funny looks when I drive my inexpensive small car (when I don't take a bus) into a parking lot filled with Priuses, BMW's and even full-sized SUV's. The people there truly are label junkies, save for a few notable examples who do appear to have a genuine concern for the environment. Still, the combination of ecocentrics and label junkies who shop there is still a tiny minority of the total white population of the city. They all just seem to congregate in this one tiny enclave while the fast food restaurants, buffets, and supermarkets all enjoy loyal patronage from an obese white populace.

  I guess what I'm trying to say is that organic food isn't for "white people"; it is for a few eccentric white people. The remainder of the white populace, it seems, has the same cavalier disposition towards organic food that most minorities do. In that sense, it is most people, white included. After all, organic food holds the same minimal value for almost everyone, white or not, compared to iPods, Xboxes, Escalades and alcohol/illicit drugs.

  If you remove expensive vices like those listed about out of the equation, as most people refuse to do, you would find that organic food isn't just for a few elitist white people. Many more people probably could afford it. But in the meantime, a few eccentric white people seem to be the only ones whose priorities include healthy food that is good for the environment. Them and myself, a poor white guy who has precious few expensive vices compared to all of the other people who "can't afford" organic food.On How the organic movement can regain its relevance posted 1 year, 5 months ago 24 Responses