Organic milk is one thing I do splurge on but lucky for me I guess we only pay $4 a gallon. Try Walmart!

I’m not sure if I can put into words how much this angers me. We as American citizens only pay 10% of our disposable income on food. 10%, even if organic milk is twice it would only be 20% of our income, a huge reduction compared to 50% in the 1950′s or the price of food in other countries. What isn’t on the price tag at the supermarket is the price we pay as taxpayers to subsidize the growth of corn to feed the cows to make non-organic milk. Or the price we will pay in the future because of the hormones not only getting into our milk but our lakes, rivers, streams and ground water that are causing deformities in frogs. Also this is bias against the organic industry, dairy produces across the country are suffering as the economy declines.

In response to Randell – I agree that buying organic is not a cure-all, especially because most organic food this country produces is “industrial-organic”, rife with many of the same environmental, human rights, and economic problems as the standard industrial food system. In response to your comment about the “buy local” movement, though, you seem to be missing the point. The local food movement does not promote simply buying the same products grown/produced locally, but rather encourages us to look at WHAT we eat and change our concept of what we “need” to have. I live in the northeast, which means that I can buy local berries in season for about a month each year. I take advantage of that season, but I also recognize that I will not be eating berries in November unless I freeze some of what I get now. I don’t expect my local farmer to build hothouses so I can have tomatoes in January, but I do buy plenty of storage apples in September so that I can have fruit during the winter. Local production does not have to use more resources if we adjust our expectations to include an understanding of our “local” growing season, etc.

Inflated prices of sustainably produced food are in part a reflection of our industrialized food system and the subsidies given by the government to gigantic monoculture farms that grow only corn and soybeans using pesticides and growing practices that deplete the soil. As a previous poster pointed out – WE, as taxpayers, are the ones who pay for those subsidies. Change is needed on a systemic level to make real, safe food available to all of us.

I cannot wait to learn more of this superior topic. So much from it Ive never even looked into. You sure did put a new twist on something that Ive heard a huge amount of about. I dont believe Ive actually read most things does this subject as good justice as you just simply did.