I dont think the comment you make is very reasonable @flagamuffin . It comes across as attempting to discredit people for just wanting an honest explanation of what exactly their food is. In this situation, poking fun at ignorance kinda makes you the asshat. There is no common knowledge of food production in this country. Knowing that, how is it even okay to package and claim an item as food, yet not have any real responsibility to disclose to the consumer exactly wtf is in the package? It doesn't help the cause when those same companies fight against having to label the alleged food. My stance is that any item sold as food needs to have its place of origin, absolute and explicitly clear list of ingredients, and methods of production on the package, label, etc. All citizens should be educated in currently used methods of producing food as well. I don't see how that's unreasonable for food. I also don't see how it's unreasonable to ask with all of this technology that we work on methods of production which is as close to nature as we can get and still feed the population.
Agreed, I worked for a short while in a restaurant that ran completely on organic and locally sourced food. It's expensive, and you have to keep a rotating and ever-changing menu, but it's definitely worth it. Plus, I live in a bit of a hippy town, and the market for a place like that is huge, even if it is pricey.
Yeah, I try and only buy whole foods from as close to local as I can get or from sources that I've grown to trust through community ( items such as yam, plantains, etc.) Eventually, you have to make a decision to buy something you don't really know the origins or method of production for simply because of how pervasive the established industry is. That's not fucking cool and it upsets me.
Agreed, and it doesn't help, too, that programs like SNAP and WIC make it harder to do so as well. WIC specifically states in a few cases that "organic" foods aren't allowed. Thankfully, we've got a couple farmer's markets that accept SNAP. Being both a chef and social worker gives me the weirdest perspective on these things, but a lot of people overlook how hard it is to eat healthy, even with food benefits.