Why Food Isn't My Politics

The Meat or No Meat debate is still going on at church and I will report on it as it unfolds, but I thought I should share why food isn't my political arena after writing this post.

10 years ago my family decided to try the vegetarian life style because I was looking for healthier alternatives, my daughter was experiencing some health issues that were related to an over active immune system, and we wanted to share in our belief of living as lightly on the earth as possible.

It was also a great way to snub those meat eating engineers that I worked with at Bechtel.

We chose to be vegetarian the same way I choose to not wear leather, drink, or smoke... because it is what I want to do.

All was going fine, we served my father in law an vegetarian Thanksgiving, we ate a lot of rice and beans, and we lost a lot of weight.

Three years after that we moved to an intentional community in Missouri for a year. We, again wanted to experience living as lightly on the earth, community, and a back to the land ideal. It was while living with 70 other people from all walks of life that I began to shift my ideas about food. We had vegans, vegetarians, meat and potato midwestern boys, dumpster divers... you name your foodie and it lived at East Wind.

What I began to realize was that food is only a choice for those who have the financial privilege to make that choice. It is an economics thing. If you come from a lower economic background or a definitive cultural background you will have food ideas around that. You MAY choose to break out of those ideas, but often, in the circumstances you CAN'T. You eat what is offered, and if you are lucky you are grateful.

It was the white middle and upper middle class kids that were offensively food oriented. THEY were making the RIGHT moral choice and they let you know in no uncertain terms that they were better because of it. Well, that screams of economic superiority, a bit of racism, and holier then thou attitudes.

These were CONSTANT conversations at East Wind while I was there and because of that tension and my  wanting to understand where everyone was coming from I chose that food was something to be thankful for in whatever form it takes.

Education and poverty were more important to me then what someone served me at dinner.

So, we moved back to San Francisco omnivores... and have stayed that way.