The Politics of Food

A few months back, I was watching a report on 60 minutes or something about the overwhelming obesity problem afflicting Americans, or for that matter, much of the world’s affluent population. Paradoxically, the problem is worse as one (in the affluent countries) gets lower down on the socio-economic ladder. One of the things highlighted was, while quantity doesn’t seem to be much of a problem, fresh and healthy food both demand a premium, and are only available at certain places. For the first time in the recorded history of the world (or so they said,) it’s substantially more expensive to cook for yourself. For example, it’s not just everywhere that one can find the fresh asparagus spears, not to mention afford them.

When one can’t afford a car, the idea of getting on a bus, going across town, paying for fresh groceries, and returning home on the bus just isn’t a realistic possibility. Of course, there’s a reinforcement loop: if there were a demand in every neighborhood, one could argue, there would be a supply. The question is whether food is fundamentally a choice issue or a structural issue. The good Marxist answer is that a labor force is kept at the bare minimum of subsistence possible that will allow them to continue to labor, but I’m not conspiratorially minded enough to buy into that in most cases.

This is one of those thorny chicken-and-egg problems [like cognitive assortment, come to think of it] that’s difficult to sort out. A fascinating question, which relates to food, health, and a myriad of other things, is why the correlation is so strong between class and these things. I’m not sure that anyone has a good answer, but I hope at least someone’s getting a little closer.