 "Photo:")
Yesterday, LMU hosted a Farmer's Market on campus. For those who are unfamiliar, the point of a Farmer's Markets is to bing produce directly from the farmer, as opposed to having it mediated by a supermarket or something of the sort. This allows people to buy produce that is locally grown and thus fresher than what is sold in Bristol Farms, Whole Foods and the like.
The food is also supposed to be wholly organic, which is to say not enhanced by any delicious chemicals. Advocates the Farmer's Market also undoubtedly touch upon how concerned they are for the livelihoods of the poor farmers they buy from. To these ends, proponents of the Farmer's Market attempt to alleviate some of the natural tensions which arise out of capitalism.
The idea is: Farmer's Markets prevent farmers being alienated from their product by circumventing supermarket mediators, making the food as well as the process of sale more organic, as it were. So fresh, organic produce is brought to LMU students for a cheaper price than what one would find at super-markets and, to the farmer's benefit, this price is higher than what Ralph's would normally pay them for fruits and vegetables, right?
Anyone with a nose can certainly tell something is amiss. A closer look at the names of supermarkets such as Whole Foods and Bristol Farms is revealing. The organic process/product has already been commodified. The image of more 'untainted,' healthy food is used to increase the desire for, and thus the price of, countless products. Strangely enough, it is actually more expensive to buy wholly organic food than it is to buy food containing additional preservatives, chemicals and et cetera.
Healthiness itself is a commodity that is increasingly expensive (e.g., dietary products and/or supplements, weight-loss pills, home-gym equipment, personal trainers and more). From gym-passes to clothes to wear while working out, people are more willing than ever to hand over additional cash so they can feel healthier. And farmers are smarter than you think; they're not just simple-country folk. They are fully aware of this fact. All of the arguments in favor of Farmer's Markets - the organic freshness of the food and atmosphere - have been commodified, subsumed by capitalism. You pay for the difference in quality; you also pay to be more ethical.
Even the altruism behind it has been compromised. The imagery of poor farmers immediately invokes pity, upper-class guilt, and then they market and sell you a means to dissolve it. Perhaps, later that week, the sight of the tomatoes on your kitchen counter will give you a smug sense of satisfaction derived from your philanthropy, which just so happened to boost the local economy.
Being healthy has developed into an upper-class privilege. Forgive the bleeding-liberal imagery, but suffice it to recall the faces of starving, third world children, as seen on TV. These tiny, mutilated beggars can't be choosers, much less throw food away food because it isn't fresh enough for them.
For those who are locally concerned, don't worry - there's plenty of cancerous poisons in everything from tap water to diet coke and, indeed, fruits and veggies. Unless you have the money to buy organic food from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, you're just going to have to digest them and die.
I hate to be the barer of bad news, but counterculture values are always subsumed and redeployed in a more accessible package. Capitalism is too elastic. Think of Hot Topic or the 70's music revolution which was killed by MTV, VH1 and other products marketed toward the Pepsi generation. Farmers who participate in Farmer's Markets aren't trying to eliminate the middle-man; they're trying to be the labor force and the middle-man at the same time, so as to maximize profit.
But why even attend the Farmer's Market? I certainly can't taste the difference; I dare, even, say supermarkets are cheaper and have a wider selection. Ralph's and Von's have an organic section and stores like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Bristol Farms specifically market products which are more natural and fresh than most - free of all those nasty preservatives and additives. What's more is that they provide a wider variety than any Farmer's Market could. While the gimmick of buying locally grown produce is rather ingenious, it is necessarily limited.
As usual, it seems as if you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. However you get greater variety and diversity in your selection if you use the free-market to your advantage, as opposed to maintaining some trendy, cynical distance which clearly uses poo substitutes for action. Focusing on the local economy is rather shortsighted given the structural inequities inherent to capitalism and purported by things like the Farmer's Market as well as the organic, health gimmick.
