Marion Nestle says that when she talks to people, she hears "this phenomenal sense of despair about their inability to do anything about climate change, or the disparity between rich and poor." A despair that she says is alleviated by a trip to the grocery store where "they can make decisions about what they are buying and send a very clear message." Perhaps people really do express these sentiments to her, but unless specifically directed, it seems unlikely that most people make the connection between relieving their feeling of despair over the "disparity between rich and poor" and shopping for groceries - in this case, probably organic ones.

But it is true that consumers have the power to change the marketplace and that they are doing it every day with the decisions they make at the grocery store, as The Economist mentioned in a recent article. The organic food industry is growing by leaps and bounds and there is an ever-increasing call for higher-quality food, held to higher standards, whether they are organic, local, fair-trade, hormone-free, etc.

And the primary reason for doing this, as Nestle implied, is so that consumers can make themselves feel good, like they're making a difference in the world in some way. It doesn't directly change anything about those "other" issues and it may not even be better for the economy, or our health, in general, as The Economist points out. The food miles theory that local foods are necessarily more environmentally friendly than non-local foods has been debunked, not to mention the fact that critics say it reeks of "protectionism and anti-globalization." Organics are not nutritionally better for you than conventional foods, despite any flavor disparities between the two. And the fair-trade theory is based on only one economic model, which may or may not be ideal for all people in all countries.

The point here is that choices made at the supermarket do impact our lives, market trends and possibly even our general well being, as well as soothing hunger and occasionally the conscience. But they are not the be-all and end all of politics, regardless of how integral food is to all of our lives. As Michael Pollan said, "We have to vote with our votes as well as our food dollars." Change, no matter where it happens or in what venue, doesn't just come from one source