Rebel with a Cause: Foodie Elitism (Article)

http://handpickednation.com/read/rebel-with-a-cause-foodie-elitism/

It’s an interesting question: should I feel guilty for spending extra money on local/organic food? People are starving in the world and here I am eating an organic apple. While I fill my grocery basket with organic produce at a local market, other people don’t even have access to fresh produce in their stores.

Did you know over 13 million people in the US live in a food desert? About 80% of these people are in urban areas.

It’s also peculiar the kind of meaning we give food. When was the last time you heard someone say they felt guilty for buying clothing/jewelry/cars/houses/vacations and feeling guilty about it? However, food has become highly politicized as we assign labels “good” vs “bad” to food depending on how it was grown, manufactured, transported, and prepared so this is just an extension of that trend. We've polarized the issue so much that if you have the means and/or skills to cook your own food from scratch, you're elitist and out of touch which means fast food and microwaved meals are the norm.

Jamie Oliver has been a very public figure in trying to reverse this trend in order to combat obesity and health complications in the US and the UK, but this is something we're all going to have to have an active role in order to bring change.

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