Writing for Rights

We’ve been feeling the food shortage crisis everywhere now, if in our own different ways. Food here in Paris has always been expensive to begin with, like in most large cities. Lately I’ve been noticing a trend though — “biologique” or organic food is being sold everywhere and is gradually pushing aside nonorganic products that are less expensive. Every grocery store I enter now sells successfully their own brand of organic products or keeps a large stock of a certain brand of these products. And, even more surprisingly, people are buying it (I’m included in this as well). In the checkout line, everyone in front or behind me has, normally, one organic product or more; walking down the street I sometimes sneak peaks through plastic grocery bags and see familiar organic brand names; even me, well, I would say at least half of the food (and beauty, and cleaning) products I buy are organic, if not more. Large chain stores such as Monoprix in France are capitalizing on this new trend by selling their own brand of products at an even higher cost than what you would find in a small, natural boutique.

So, what does this mean?

Well, I think that buying organic food is a great thing. Why not spend more money if the product is of a better quality and filled with less chemicals and fillers, I ask myself. There is no problem; that is, if you have the money to spend. There is an inherent screw-up built into organic culture, but the blame lays on government regulations (which have normally been secured by large corporations such as Monsanto by lobbyists) and subsidies, turning “natural” farmers and consumers into victims. Organic produce is so much more expensive largely because of these governmental regulations that favor pesticide producing companies and OGMs.

If organic products are starting to gain popularity, and large shops are fading out a bit of their normal sellers to make way for this big moneymaker, what effect will this have on the price of food as a whole? Food is becoming more of a luxury for the rich, and organic food is, obviously, on an even higher level. What does this trend mean for those who have been most affected by this food shortage?

I had never thought of the repercussions to this new boom in organic culture until I read this wonderful article; read it below:

 The Rich Get Hungrier

(cross-posted at QuillsandInk)

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