I really do not like shopping. I can find an exception to grocery shopping, because I love food so much, but even that is a trying experience. Walking into a grocery store, I find myself overwhelmed by the capitalist marketing mentality treating food as a commodity. It creates an atmosphere where I do not feel welcome to question the food I am purchasing, but to buy what I know or if I do not know, whatever the stores tells me to get. Walking through the maze of boxes and bags, which contain something that passes for food, I feel uncomfortable stopping to consider the items or to read the packages. I have also found that this mentality has built into a system where “real” food has drifted out of reach under the labels and tags. Food now labeled as “Organic” comes with the connotation that only wealthy, elitist consumers can afford it. In my experience, the average person does not spend much time thinking about food in the manner they should and they feel intimidated because they do not know how to go about it. Shopping for organic food requires thought, time, and money in today’s market and many people do not feel they have it. Grocery stores have their system that feeds off of this; they take a role telling people what to buy rather than teaching and create a separation between food and customer.
From my house in Northwest Washington D.C., I have a few options when it comes to grocery stores. Among the many grocery stores in my area, the common choice down the street is Safeway, the popular chain store known for its savings, or the second option I usually take it to walk an extra five minutes to Whole Foods, another chain with a marketing focus on natural and organic food. When it comes down to it, choosing which grocery store to go to tends to be on a case-by-case basis. Which one am I passing on the way home? Who am I with and where do they want to go? Do I want quality or cheap food? I consider these questions every time I say, "going to store for some milk—you need anything?"
Safeway is the standard, big, shiny grocery store that that is at home anywhere in America and for me it is the essence of capitalism. The black tire marks from the shopping carts stand out against the white floors as each step squeaks and the florescent lighting illuminates the brightly colored boxes. The fruits and vegetables look inviting from the entrance, until you get a step closer and realize you have been deceived by an under-ripe tomato and wilting lettuce. It is generic but familiar so customers feel comfortable and safe because it does not deviate from any other store. Customers see same brands in the same order as every other western grocery store, and it becomes expected for this to be the case in each store. Safeway markets itself as the store for everyone through a focus in the savings; it is accessible, affordable, and average.
Organic food, however, is not easily found in the store, as I found out, strolling through Safeway on my most recent visit looking for an organic frozen pizza. I walked with one of my house-mates' up and down the frozen food aisle, scouring the Pizza section and had no luck. We found it eventually in the next aisle under Novelty. After expressing her frustration that because it was organic it was placed in a different location from the rest of the pizzas, Maureen McCarty, noted, "by filing organic foods under novelty, people automatically think they have to pay more and they think they cannot afford it.” When organic food is inaccessible it becomes a “luxury” item and people are intimidated because it is different and seemingly out of reach.
Whole Foods is an entire store known for its natural and organic food and also for its high prices. Whole Foods brings the organic movement to the corporate level—organic capitalism. The store has done it well, stepping into Whole Foods is a different experience entirely, the colors are natural browns and somewhat calming and evoke the feeling of something natural. Samples of fruits, vegetables and cheese are offered in various locations throughout the store, drawing in the buyers. The atmosphere is more inviting through the sharing of food and the environment is open as information is offered about the items in the store.
While the quality of the food products is noticeably better than that of the average brands that are found at the mainstream stores, the prices remain high. Granted the customer is paying for the high quality, but the cost is so high that it makes the good quality un-accessible to many people. From my observation, the majority people that shop at Whole Foods are conscious consumers who want good quality and ethical food and they tend to be from the wealthy class. Many people cannot afford to buy these “specialty items” even if they want the quality of good organic food and because of this Whole Foods has a reputation of being an expensive and snobby store. The concept of a supermarket carrying organic and natural items is a nice idea; in some ways this particular chain has exacerbated the problem of widening the gap between natural, healthy food and the majority of the population. Rather than being the organic store, Whole Foods has become a novelty store for the average person.
The illusive organic food is one of the biggest challenges to the “real food” movement. My roommate’s sister was getting something out of my refrigerator and after seeing my selection of food asked me “are you organic?” I was a bit taken aback as I considered the question, am I organic? She was of course referring to my food choices and, yes, I do buy a much of my food organic because I prefer the better quality it offers, but does that make me organic? The fact that I was categorized as organic simply because I buy organic food further furthers the idea that only a certain type of person can buy that food. At Safeway, the average American grocery store, the organic food is separated and tucked away. Whole Foods is a store devoted to natural food, however it builds an elitist sentiment among the shoppers. With the current system of food shopping, buying groceries is a necessity for the average American and therefore not disputed. The stores use this to take charge and take advantage of the lack of knowledge and lack of will to care on the part of the consumers and take charge using marketing tactics telling us what we need to consume. The average customer must feel they can question their food choices in the grocery and the stores should offer the informational resources that welcome the intrigue and promote real food. Changing the affordability and accessibility of organic food in grocery stores is a step that will bring the movement to the mainstream public.
Note: This was a short essay I wrote for my class at American University--Political Ecology of Food and Agriculture.
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