blog #10: Food Riots and Raj Patel: Eat your food, People are starving in china

During Raj Patel’s speech about food riots, the biggest wakeup call was when he so eloquently and humorously said that ‘ American’s have this notion that we can solve would hunger and food issues by shopping.’ It made me laugh, but then thinking deeper about it I realized how true it was. We think if we just buy organic or free range, then we are doing our part. What we don’t see is that corporation’s advertising feed into the ‘organic’ fad and that is partly why we feel this consumer obligation. People are becoming aware of these issues and corporations take advantage of that desire to help. Tied into our need to help the food crisis through shopping is our idea of democracy. Our democratic nature tells us that if we just choose right, we are voting for the political policy about food issues and making a difference on the environment. Choosing Pepsi or Coke is not democracy as Raj Patel reminded us. We only think it is. There is no right choice when it comes to choosing our food because that right choice is simply not available in the market or even if it is, choosing it is not voting on political policy. The democratic consumer illusion is one we have to wake up from in order to really critically think about our food crisis and how to take steps that will produce change.

Raj’s speech also brought to light the complex and dynamic nature of these problems. There are so many factors that tie into the problems that a solution is not easy to find. It is important to realize these complexities because some solutions may sound great, with out thinking ahead, they may turned out to hurt more than they help. Honestly, Raj Patel’s speech was great at unmasking the dynamics of the issues, but I feel like he came up short in explaining what we can do to help. I still feel like I have no clue what the right actions are, but maybe it is because there is no clear cut solutions. Mothers say, "eat your food, there are people starving in China" but what can we do about those kids in China? When I was a little kid and my mother would say the same thing, I remember I actually saved my food and packed it up in a box marked "China". Maybe that's the solution! (only joking)