My sister shared an article from Forbes.com on her Facebook about organic/non-GMO crops. I've never really had an opinion on the whole pro-GMO/anti-GMO-organic issue, although I think I lean towards the pro side. I'm all for people wanting to eat foods that are as healthy as possible, but I also understand the need to be efficient and feed people who need to be fed. Mostly what tips me in one direction is the fact that I hate the condescending attitude almost all of the organic camp takes towards those who don't follow their tenets.
I took a Food and Politics class in Bozeman back in the day and the only thing I remember about it is the gripe fest about poor people, how they spend money on unhealthy foods, and how they personally were better than "them" because they shopped at the organic Co-op. One girl shared a story about how she spent $20 on ingredients for lasagna how it lasted her three days and isn't she such a great person for eating something healthier than the McDonald's Dollar Menu.
I was livid.
It took everything I had not to raise my hand and ask these people looking down their nose at the poor if they've ever experienced poverty. Have they ever had $50 for food money for an entire month? Have they ever lived on a PB&J sandwich a day? Yes there are people who eat at McD's often because they are legitimately too lazy to cook, but there are also people who have budgets so tight that $1 is ALL they can spend on an entire meal. For those people, the fast food dollar menus may be unhealthy, but they're also a god-send. Part of me is glad I didn't rail on the class for their narrow minded affluence, because undoubtedly my opinion would've gotten me run out on a rail, but a part of me regrets it. I would've loved to point out that not everyone is blessed to travel the world, have plenty of food, and the ability to attend school and have daddy and mommy pay for it.
Which brings me back to the non-organic/organic, GMO issues. So many of the people I know who are firmly in the non-GMO camp come off as bitter and antagonistic to anyone who disagrees or who lives a lifestyle contrary to their own. At the risk of offending anyone, (and if I do I'm really sorry) I've even known someone who said you aren't truly following the Word of Wisdom unless you were eating organic.
I guess I'm a big, fat sinner because I fall among those in the world who have an incredibly hard time affording the supposedly toxic, pesticide ridden fruits and vegetables. For me, eating healthy is a rare occurrence and organic is so far out of the realm of possibility I have a better chance of spontaneous combustion.
I'm glad people have lifestyles that are so comfortable they can afford to get bigger and better things. But they have no right to look down on me, and others like me, and imply (explicitly or implicitly) that because I don't eat what they eat I am ruining the planet or increasing the spread of cancers. When you're on top of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, don't criticize those of us struggling with the foundation. We're doing the best we can with what we've been given.
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