To Buy Organic or Pay the Bills, that is the Question

Motherhood changes your priorities. That's (hopefully) an obvious statement. For me, this is partially manifested in a horrible sense of guilt each and every time that I do the grocery shopping. Why? Organics. Now, I grew up a vegetarian in southern California. My parents were from San Francisco (Britain originally, but they moved to San Francisco in the 60s -- you get the picture). I grew up eating organics. We had our own garden and citrus/avocado orchard at home and didn't have to buy much in the way of fruits and vegetables. When I was older and shopped for myself, I always bought organic fruits, vegetables, milk, and eggs. Sure, it was a little bit more expensive, but not unreasonably so. I understand that the costs of producing organic foods are higher than those of mass-producing against the laws of nature.

However, in the past few years, I have stopped buying organic. Why, you ask? Because, quite frankly, I can no longer afford it. It all started with the opening of Whole Foods Market or Freshfields (same store). In San Diego, these opened in the most exclusive neighbourhoods only. And they had prices to match. They were shops for the wealthy and privileged. We all laughed at them, wearing their Armani suits and Rolex watches, paying a fortune for the fresh food that we grew or bought locally every week. They were buying an image. We were buying healthy whole foods. But then, quite suddenly, these foods started making their way into the local supermarkets. The price was a bit lower than the exclusive stores and allowed the average upper middle class family to feel that they too were buying into the whole foods image. Before long, there were whole aisles of the supermarket dedicated to organic products with mark-ups to validate their trendy status. The local places either increased their prices to match (why not?), or shut down in favour of selling to the larger market.

And that's where we are today. Organics remain trendy, the food of the stars, and incredibly overpriced. Its a business. It is no longer about good farming practises and sustainable agriculture. It is about money, and Gwyneth Paltrow, and $6 smoothies. And darn it, I can't afford it! I am an earth scientist and I don't earn much. My husband is working around stay-at-home fatherhood, so doesn't earn much at the moment either. I want to provide my son with many opportunities to grow and learn, but classes aren't free. I need to put money away for retirement. I need to pay the bills. I will soon need a new car (lets not even get into the "hybrid or dinner this year" discussion now!). I want to provide my son with the best foods, fresh foods, a good good variety, and I want to protect the planet from destructive farming practises. But can I afford to do both?

Not at the moment. And that makes me feel incredibly sad. And guilty. And angry. Food should not be big business. Nor should sustainable agriculture. It should simply be "the way that it is".