Indulgence of a privileged few?

Some days ago, I came across an article on the CNN Web site. It talked about how a food blogger challenged herself and others to eating "real food" for a month. Real food in this case was defined as any edible item that is not processed such as refined oils, flours, some milk products, salt, sugar, etc. Even the so-called organic food, if in a can or a box, was asked to be thrown away. Food was supposed to be made from scratch. Lard, yogurt, cheese, flour and other staple food items were prepared in kitchen to be used while cooking.

The idea behind the challenge was noble but it made sense only if you had the money to spare. Organic and the traditional, fresh foods (that was used in this case) cost more than just normal, off-the-shelf grocery-store food. I am a fan of eating healthy organic or traditional, fresh food but I can't. It is not within my reach. I have to be honest to keep the balance. My household runs on a comfortable but meager graduate student salary, just enough to save a little and spend a little more. Buying organic food every single grocery trip is still a luxury I am not willing to afford.

I have often wondered, though, why is organic food or traditional, fresh food so out-of-reach for budget households, apart from the usual "high investment cost" excuse? I came across some reasons on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Web site (http://www.fao.org/organicag/oa-faq/oa-faq5/it/). The following pointers have been quoted from the Web site.

• "Organic food supply is limited as compared to demand;
• Production costs for organic foods are typically higher because of greater labour inputs per unit of output and because greater diversity of enterprises means economies of scale cannot be achieved;
• Post-harvest handling of relatively small quantities of organic foods results in higher costs because of the mandatory segregation of organic and conventional produce, especially for processing and transportation;
• Marketing and the distribution chain for organic products is relatively inefficient and costs are higher because of relatively small volumes."

The website mentions that with the increase in demand, the above mentioned costs are bound to go down, resulting in a decrease in the cost of organic food and, I am assuming, other organic products as well.

So, that means that I will have to wait my turn to be able to enjoy organic food without risking my little, but precious savings. May be I'll indulge myself every now and then until my husband and I can get out of grad school and get real jobs. May be then, I will be a part of the "organic" everything movement. Until then, I will have to support the green movement by foregoing poly-bags in favor of my very own cotton grocery bags, saving power and water, not buying stuff I do not need and remaining a vegetarian (It is a tough life-choice in the United States!).

P.S.- I am no supporter of throwing away any amount of food to make way for "real food." Millions go hungry everyday, and our sense of entitlement and wasting even a grain does not help. I just hope the people who took the challenge donated some of the food they weren't using, to charities. I am from India and have seen poverty from up close. Every single contribution, whether in money or food, matters.

Also, the article in question: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/23/real.food.challenge/index.html?iref=allsearch

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