The Privilege of Eating Organic

So I am nearing the end of the second week of my ethical eating experimentation, and things have gone fairly smoothly. I managed to avoid eating any meat products during my first week, and I went almost a whole week eating organically....almost.

Saturday was my 22nd birthday, and while going out was a lot of fun, it posed significant problems to my organic agenda. First, one of my dear friends (and aspiring pastry chef) made me a delicious tangerine mojito-flavored birthday cake. It was covered in brightly-colored, handmade fondant. It was - not surprisingly - not made entirely of organic ingredients. This, however, did not prevent me from eating it. Then, we went out to celebrate on H Street. When we were at my favorite bar, the owner brought us over a complimentary bucket of tater tots (yes, a bucket). Once again I participated in the consumption of non-organic food (and drink).

While these slip-ups might seem to indicate that I simply had less ethical conviction on my birthday, they really demonstrate the fact that eating organically limits your food options. As much as we demonize megafarms that grow hundreds of acres of a single crop for profit, we should also acknowledge the sterilizing effects of eating strictly organic. Sure, you can find organic alternatives to most conventional food products, but your access to these alternatives is limited by your financial capacity and your geographic location. This week's challenge would probably not even be possible if I were living in a rural town in my home state of Texas. Eating organic is a privilege, and it's not an option for everyone.

In addition to economic and geographic constraints, an organic diet also poses threats to food traditions. I chose to eat the non-organic birthday cake my friend made for me because acknowledging her work and participating in the community event that her food production created was important to me in the celebration of my birthday. Since coming to college, I stopped mammals in order to reduce my meat consumption. Yet every year when I go home for the holidays, I eat tamales on Christmas Eve because it is a family tradition. People should absolutely make an effort to be conscious about what they are eating and how they are connected to it. While we don't want to become disengaged from the food that is put on our plate everyday, we also don't want to become disconnected from the food traditions that shape our identities. We should work to create new traditions around healthful, ethical ingredients and recognize that thinking about what you eat demands more than checking for the USDA Organic label on products from the grocery store.