Reflecting on the food I consume is a task. I operate on twenty dollars a month, give or take, after rent and on weekends shop at a grocery store I like to call the House of Mom and Dad. I am almost done with school (three months, yes) and will have money after this "transition" period so to think of my food now, when I am in a state of abnormality, is difficult.
To think of sustainability and the future of food when I am already constantly thinking of my own future seems arbitrary. But this sounds like I'm saying: "But I'm too busy thinking of myself--I don't have time to care what goes in it." A rather childish way to look at the world.
However sometimes my childish view of not caring about the food I eat is needed. I am done with my teenage obsessions of yesteryear, of what is really in a McDonald's burger or how do they really treat the food I put into my body. Again, I do not have funds to worry, maybe eventually I will.
In Manifestos of the Future of Food, Jamey Lionette says, "As it stands right now only a privileged few can afford real, clean, and sustainable food; soon even the privileged will have little access to such food." I have yet to see the value in such clamoring for food, I will wash my pesticide ridden apples in hot water before I eat them. I do not want to fear a caste system in America over something as simple (and at one time sparse) as food.
Lionette, Jamey. "A View From Behind the Counter." Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed. Ed. Vandana Shiva. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2007. 109-131
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I think this is the case for a lot of students in some way. We just don't have the money right now to be picky about what we eat. we try to eat healthy with what we can afford. I have tried many different ways to eat healthy on what little money I have right now, like making a big meal at the start of the week and then doing left over type things, or just taking the time to make everything from scratch, but time is not something I have a lot of either, some days I'm in class from 8 to 8 and i might have time to grab a bagel a banana, and something quick on campus, but thats about it.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, I don't have much money on my own for food and although I live at home there really isn't much there. I find myself at the end of the week wondering, "What have I eaten this week?" I thankful for having some really good friends who also still live with their parents, who actually buy food. Most nights my boyfriend is kind enough to cook dinner -- granted it is using his parents food. For awhile I felt bad about always eating their food but now I have a system set up. Anytime I go to the grocery story I'll text them to see if I can pick anything up. Just recently we've started doing an exchange. Throughout the week they make a list for Costco and than when I go to get gas, I pick up the items and they pay me back. I know it does quite even out but than they don't have to spend forever at Costco and I don't feel so bad. It is a nice option if you can swing it.
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