Small steps toward ethical eating

Dear readers, I’m going to veer into moderately controversial waters in an area where I am just beginning to become educated. Feel free to use the comments to agree, disagree, or “school me.” Talking about tough things is one of the ways we can move through them and become stronger.

Last week I had a small outburst in my nutritionist’s office. On the subject of seasonal produce and grocery shopping, I found myself blurting out, “Is it too much to ask to be able to buy ethical food!?!” This sentiment had been building for a while, but I had reached the point that I couldn’t sit quietly any longer. In the moment I was speaking out of frustration, but I really did want an answer.

What I should have included in my brief rant was my desire to purchase ethical food for the same price as the products supplied by highly subsidized mega corporations who engage in the practices I find most questionable. This is my real problem. I have become accustomed to bloated products at bargain basement prices. What I have to remind myself is, if I’m not paying the actual cost of my food — who is? It should not surprise anyone to open the newspaper (or their home page) and read about undervalued factory workers cutting corners in their jobs. Reading news articles about production lines operating in unhealthy conditions is unsettling at best. But, how can I expect to have the best quality products in my kitchen if I am unwilling to reasonably compensate the companies who supply them? I’d like to note that when I talk about ethical food I am not speaking exclusively of organic food. I think that there is room for “conventional” practices in the world of food production. Personally, I used some fertilizer but no pest or herbicides when growing my vegetables this past summer.

I stand in the grocery store and choke at the price of pasture-raised meat. I feel smug about my choice to avoid farm-raised fish and then balk when their ocean-caught cousins are above my price range. In my heart I do not want to devalue the efforts of any food producers who are committed to bringing customers an ethical product. In fact, I would prefer to purchase these products exclusively. It is just really difficult not to feel like consuming 100% ethical food is a choice only available to the elite of our society.

I can’t shake the feeling that grocery shopping is a politically charged activity. Navigating my cart through the produce section of my neighborhood supermarket, I am not choosing between apples and oranges; I am voting with my dollars. Artfully arranged signage indicates the items that are local, organic, seasonal, or all of the above. The market where I do most of my shopping has designed their produce bins to resemble crates like you those you might find at a farm stand. While I am squeezing avocados and examining kale I can’t help feeling that perhaps I should have taken my business to an actual farm stand.

I am doing my best to turn my kitchen into a better representation of my values. I see similarities between this current desire and the beginning of my weight loss journey. It took time and learning from missteps to learn how to feed my body for weight loss and now weight maintenance. Shifting my purchasing habits will also require time and learning from missteps. It helps that my habits have already begun to change as part of the natural progression of my weight loss.

Our family has already begun one of the most fundamental shifts of our consumption by choosing to consume less meat. Learning to grow some of my own food, taking the time to visit u-pick farms and freezing most of what we pick has been a great way reduce our family’s desire to purchase out-of-season imported produce to brighten the dark days of winter. It’s not much yet, but, I have found the only way to achieve long-term changes is through specific and measurable actions. Hopefully in the months and years to come, shifts in consumer habits will bring positive changes to the marketplace.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.