Solutions or More Division?

 Haute and elite, whiteness, “knowing where your food comes from.” According to Alkon all of these things have in common the color of someone’s skin and that’s it. It seems to me at least that she’s trying to address the racial disparities she notices in everyday life (in one of the wealthier cities in the U.S.), that’s okay. I think that she may be barking up the wrong tree though, when she says that, the philosophy of small farmers being romanticized and having their products bought by their consumers isn’t acknowledging the past. Making an assumption of what one believes is never a smart idea.

The fact that Alkon goes on to stretch an interviewees’ word choice was quite shocking in regards to it being community based. When we speak our words should be taken in the context of which they are spoken, to say that the town feels community-based isn’t a bad thing, likewise I couldn’t agree any less that a moral decision opposed to an economic one yields affluence. If I feel that I need to help at least one person a month financially in order to commit a good act of charity, it doesn’t matter about the amount given, it’s strictly about the intention. A moral decision to shop for healthy food in the area where you live, regardless on it’s price, shouldn’t be misinterpreted as affluence. I believe that people genuinely do care about their food. All people care about their food and their health to some degree. To evaluate a rich city that’s predominantly white and say it excludes people due to the prices is one thing, and it’s true that leisurely affluence can be noticed in some areas of life, but it’s another when you say that embodying community regards affluence and whiteness.

To conclude, leisurely affluence isn’t something that’s subtle. Unless that is of course, Alkon can read our minds and judge our intentions. Affluence very well may be related to our habits. Let’s look at chocolate, for example. In ancient Mexico, it was the literal currency. Only those that were emperors or the elite would eat or drink it. Food in our time is not currency; it’s a consumable product that nourishes us and sustains us. I can agree with Alkon when she says the imagery that we choose to use will affect our logical reasoning. But I don’t think the disparity of a diverse ambiance solely exists due to wealth and the color of a person’s skin.  I agree that we need better farm labor relations and people should understand who is cultivating their food, but I almost get the feeling that she wants people to integrate into a culture that’s not their own. When she wrote about not having certain holidays included in the market, it seems almost unreasonable to suggest that cultural appropriation should occur. Furthermore, you can’t expect that anyone, regardless of their background, will automatically have a desire to assimilate into a culture.