Go ahead, tear up your Sierra Club membership. Grocery shopping is the new environmentalism. Every trip to the supermarket is yet another chance to prove your environmentalist credentials. Gone are the days when grocery stores were merely purveyors of bland commercialism at cutthroat prices. Today, hypermarkets are on the frontline in the crusade to save the planet.
How do grocery stores plan on saving the earth, you ask? Through the divine power of the new Holy Trinity: organic, fair trade and local products. Advocates claim that this trio is capable of halting climate change, ending the obesity epidemic and eradicating poverty. Those are momentous claims. If only they were true.
The organic food industry has gained many supporters over the past 30 years as it has moved from the hemp-lined fringes of society to the mainstream. This transition has allowed it to become a multi-billion-dollar industry. During its ascent to the top of the capitalist pyramid, the organic food industry created a series of legends and myths that must be dispelled.
First, there is scant evidence to suggest that organic food is nutritionally superior. Organics may — and probably do — taste better than their conventionally-grown counterparts, but they aren’t likely to be any healthier.
Organic farming has other drawbacks as well. Without the aid of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, organic farmers must engage in costly and time-consuming soil replenishment. This is generally done through the application of manure.
But cows are not as environmentally friendly as they seem to be. Industrial fertilizers are produced with natural gas, which is a limited natural resource. However, cows not only produce vast quantities of greenhouse gases — they also consume vast quantities of grain that is produced through mechanized, pollution-causing farming.
Organic farming is much more labor intensive than conventional farming. Because no pesticides or herbicides are used, organic crops require more frequent care to eradicate weeds and pests.
This need creates low-skill, low-wage seasonal jobs that are filled by the most impoverished and transitory people — often undocumented immigrants. So instead of bringing people out of poverty, organic agriculture actually institutionalizes it within U.S. borders.
Fair Trade is an extension of the organic movement. It focuses beyond U.S. borders to the global south, with the stated goal of addressing “the injustice of low prices” within the market.
The Fair Trade logo is instantly recognizable to anyone who has ever been to a coffee shop in the last five years. And as anyone who has ever bought a bag of Fair Trade beans knows, that logo raises prices so that the collective can meet its objectives.
However, Fair Trade is not dealing with the real issue: global overproduction. By creating artificial incentives, fair trade actually discourages diversification. It also influences more farmers to enter the market in hopes of obtaining the Fair Trade label. This rapid influx soon causes a glut, resulting in a global commodity downturn. For many of the world’s poorest farmers this means financial ruin. They lack the flexibility to react to rapid changes in world commodity prices that we take for granted.
The local movement is the most recent addition to the trinity. However, local isn’t better. In fact, the call to “buy local” is the most disingenuous and insidious form of protectionism. Local products aren’t better for you, and they probably aren’t better for the environment. For example, most of Utah’s most productive farmland has been paved over to make way for sprawling subdivisions. The remaining farms often operate on the margins — hence the need for consistent bailouts at the hint of drought or disaster.
In the age of capital mobility, the dollars spent at local businesses do not stay in the community. Local producers must buy many of their own components from suppliers outside of the region. This is merely a cheap shot aimed to convince consumers to pay higher prices for similar — and sometimes inferior — goods.
Organic, fair trade and local production are not the solutions that their supporters claim. They do not have miraculous powers to overcome dynamic market forces, end hunger or rid the world of disease. Instead, they raise prices for all consumers and have very limited benefits — so don’t jump on the Birkenstock bandwagon.
As for me, I’m heading for the Christmas candy aisle, guilt-free.
