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I DINNER CONVERSATION DINNER CONVERSATION: EATING SUSTAINABLY WITHOUT DIETARY ELITISM by Alyssa Wood A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Wilkes Honors College in Partial Fulfillment in the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences with a Concentration in Environmental Studies Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University Jupiter, FL April 2012 i DINNER CONVERSATION: EATING SUSTAINABLY WITHOUT DIETARY ELITISM by Alyssa Wood This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate’s thesis advisor, Dr. William O’Brien, and has been approved by the members of his/her supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the Honors College and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: _______________________________ Dr. William O’Brien _______________________________ Dr. Wairimũ Njambi ______________________________ Dean, Wilkes Honors College _____________________________ Date ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. William E. O’Brien for his unwavering patience and support throughout both my experience at the Honors College and writing my thesis. I also would like to thank everyone involved in my homestead (Pluto Farms)—humans, quails, ducks, chickens, cats, and plants—for being a wonderful place to simply be in during thesis workdays. I would also like to thank each and every person that is making a difference in their community via food and food justice. Your work enables me to do my own and to continue with a full heart of hope. Thanks should also be extended to Grizzly Bear and Breathe Owl Breathe, as their melodies kept me focused and sane throughout the writing process. iii ABSTRACT Author: Alyssa Wood Title: Dinner Conversation: Eating Sustainably without Dietary Elitism Institution: Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. William O’Brien Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Concentration: Environmental Studies Year: 2012 This study explores the perceived elitism within both the environmentalist community and general public in regards to “environmental diets” such as: vegetarianism, veganism, locavore-ism, and ethical omnivory. I explore these diets and potential expressions of elitism within the framework developed by Morrison and Dunlap in their discussion of environmental elitism. Examples come from published sources as well as personal anecdotes. Through this study, I suggest that this perceived elitism is actually not elitism per se, but a very thin line of tension between describing the ideal food systems aside the current state of food inequity and industrial agriculture. Simply, I am trying to grapple with how to be educated in the fields of Food Studies and systems of oppression without perpetuating elitism alongside the system which desperately needs reform. iv To Geema and Papa To the Soil and To Life v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………1 Introduction to Food Studies……………………………………………………………...8 Compositional Elitism in Food Movements……………………………………………..16 Ideological Elitism in Food Movements………………………………………………...27 Impact Elitism in Food Movements……………………………………………………..33 The Question of Vegetarian Elitism...…………………………………………………...34 The Question of Vegan Elitism…………………………………………………………39 The Question of Locavore Elitism..……………………………………………………..43 The Question of Ethical Omnivory Elitism..……………………………………………47 Conspicuous Consumption……………………………………………………………...52 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………54 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………….56 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Map of Domestic Obesity/Diabetes in Youths………………………………11 Figure 2: “2005 U.S Farm Subsidies”………………………………………………….12 Figure 3: “Price of Foods and Beverages 1978-2008”…………………………………18 Figure 4: “Baltimore Food Stores with Low Availability of Healthy Food by Neighborhood, Race, and Income 2006”………………………………………22 Figure 5: “Access to Supermarkets and Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables by Race 2002”…………………………………………………………………………. 22 Figure 6: “Vegetable Protein Percentage Chart” ……………………………………...36 vii Introduction As an environmentalist, I am asked questions regarding my dietary habits and choices- “Are you a vegetarian?” Perhaps I am being sensitive, but it seems like in any environmental conference, group or club meeting, or other gathering of environmentalists, everyone is staring at each other’s plates to decipher if they are a “good environmentalist” or not. I have come to see this more and more from other self- proclaimed environmentalists—a perceived elitism regarding the diets that environmentalists and Americans in general hold, for what reasons and to what extent. Vegans, vegetarians, locavores, and ethical omnivores all seem to have so much to say and the propaganda to back it up to make one feel guilty for not following their diet of choice. While this is a good thing, as undeniably, each of these diets does have a hand in slowing down climate change and supporting local economies (thus shrinking food miles)… the mission to convert everyone to an environmental diet fails to consider that some people simply do not have the resources to do just that. I am a staunch believer that the way one eats shapes the world and on a smaller scale, the community one lives in, but some of these kinds of diets can often only be held by those privileged enough to follow through, spend time, and in some cases spend money. As I write this I would consider myself a follower of the “ethical omnivore” diet/lifestyle. I have been vegetarian in the past but have had health issues linked to soy and felt malnourished while continuing a vegetarian diet. That’s not to say that a vegetarian diet is not feasible for me, just that I haven’t found the right way to do it for my particular body. I have found myself, through learning about our current food systems and having the monetary agency to “vote with my fork” eating predominately organic 1 produce and organic packaged foods, as well as meat on occasion, that has been raised wild, free-range, or at the very least without anti-biotics and growth hormones. I have vastly cut out my use of dairy due to studies that have shown it to harbor massive amounts of the hormones put into the cows as well as for economic reasons.1 I have been entertaining the idea of raising a dairy goat on my 1.35 acre homestead to take care of my dairy wants. Our food system is an environmental justice issue, in which the already white-washed “greens” or environmentalists and other privileged classes can pay to get out of the systematic poisoning and degradation of public health that others are subjected to. It is neither Food Studies nor environmentalists’ aim to subjugate others by creating an alternative, but unfortunately these new environmental dietary options have many feeling inadequate at the dinner table.2 Simply put, the “elitism” concept I address can describe a person or situation in which a group or party assumes a position of power due to some criteria (diet, race, class/income, level of conviction, etc.) and makes that power known to the “others” through advocacy (missionary militancy) and exclusion. This force becomes oppressive for those that are not considered “elite”. Glaring eyes, campaigns, and choices available are all products of elitism when within the context of dietary elitism. I will be utilizing the following overarching definitions of “elitism” within the context of my thesis: 1 1999 study by Health Canada, “Report of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Expert Panel on Human Saftey of rBST” which discusses how rBST increases the chance of cows contracting mastitis, which is treated with antibiotics (adding to antibiotic resistance in humans who drink this milk). Also, Mark Kastel’s “Down on the Farm: The Real BGH Story Animal Health Problems, Financial Troubles” (1995) described the same with use of farmer’s narratives and experiences using this drug. 2 Food Studies, as a movement, encompasses both critical analysis of food through society, cross-culturally, historically, and artistically (not to mention in many other fields) and Food Justice which fights inequities in the American food supply of healthy food distribution 2 I. “The attitude or behavior of a person or group who regards themselves as belonging to an elite”3 II. “The advocacy or existence of an elite as a dominating element in a system or society”4 III. “The systematic exclusion of the majority from political influence”5 I have had personal experience with the accusation that environmental diets and their followers are elitist through my journey through the Food Studies movement. One evening I realized that my diet had created an elitist monster of me when it came to the kitchen. When my roommate brought home a conventional pepper from the grocery store, I found myself vocalizing that I didn’t want to use that pepper because it was tainted.6 I essentially turned my nose up to it because it wasn’t up to par with what I wanted to eat, but it came out of the goodness of that roommate’s heart to share with the house and with me. There seems to be a fine line with knowing what you know about the current food system and dismissing most food as not food in an elitist manner. In this study I plan to explore the complexity and tension revolved around this issue of dietary elitism within the environmentalist culture and public sphere. 3 Found in the Oxford Dictionary of Difficult Words. This definition is especially applicable to the perceived elitism within the environmental community itself. 4 Also found in the Oxford Dictionary of Difficult Words. This definition applies strongly to my analysis because advocacy is the point in which perceived dietary elitism becomes elitism. 5 This definition is from Sociology: Making Sense of Society (2009). This definition is especially useful because it relates strongly to Food Justice and implies that class is tied to the group which is oppressed by elitism. 6 The term “conventional” refers to foods and food products produced through non-organic agricultural practices.
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