Whole Foods Nation

We are living in the era of capitalism’s apex, and the social and environmental ramifications of this uber-capitalism are sometimes too much for a sensitive, socially conscious soul. Behold the destruction caused by want of stuff: For oil, we go to war. For cheap garment labor, we make sweatshops. For more coffee beans, we cut down the Amazon. \nSome people feel guilty about all this. Some people feel guilty about living in a time when people shop recreationally, when companies are mammoth powers that control the media and politics, when buying stuff is the very stuff of life. \nSo what do these guilty spenders do? They buy organic! \nThe booming organic materials industry can actually change attitudes of conscious consumers in a culture of mass accumulation, but I’ll admit that in a world of injustice, buying organic is the very least we can do.\nWhile being a good capitalist over spring break, I was shopping at a Levi’s store on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. The store offered jeans made from organic cotton, with a whopping price tag of $180. Then the other day, while I was checking football stats, the Guardian UK featured a photo slideshow of gorgeous fair-trade purses made from organic textiles. These too were a bit out of my price range, with the cheapest costing around 40 pounds, or $80. Organic is more than food: it’s a lifestyle.\nMore specifically, it’s a lifestyle for middle and upperclass folk who feel guilty about the deeply unjust principles guiding the culture of consumption. Organic foods often cost more than the food injected with growth hormones and sprayed with pesticides. Additionally, the organic food market overlaps with the gourmet food market. The offerings of Bloomingfoods and Sahara Mart reflect this, as do larger national chains like Whole Foods.\nSometimes buying organic is more of a fashion statement than it is a step in the right direction. For instance, the organic consumer who is willing to buy organic acai juice or Levi’s organic jeans, has a certain vibe some would call unquestionably “elitist.” \nHowever, it’s true the organic movement goes hand in hand with a lifestyle of recycling and conserving. But the newer phenomenon of big companies cashing in on the organic market presents a dilemma. Levi’s doesn’t really care about polluting the world with their regular jeans, but they know they can cash in on the “richies” buying organic products. They want profit, not a new world of just means of production.\nUntil companies care more about producing an ethical product than making a profit, organic jeans aren’t going to make one lick of difference. The organic industry has been co-opted by those behemoth companies and is becoming a part of the unjust system from which it tries to differentiate itself. If companies provide the world with a plethora of stuff, albeit organic stuff, our world of excess is merely transformed into a world of organic excess. \nThe answer is to change our attitudes about consumption. We need to want less.