Fast Choices

Americans love choice. One might say, we feed off it. We demand it in our political system, our menu of careers and lifestyles, our social identities. In many instances, choice has increased opportunity and liberty.

But with food, the story is different. Our obsession has brought us to a point where the illusion of choice suffices, even at the expense of our health and happiness. Apparently, Americans would rather "choose" from a cooler stocked with 30 sleekly packaged drinks--which seem different but all contain a similar cocktail of chemicals and modified grains--than select from a slimmer range of beverages, like water, unsweetened tea and coffee.

The American cult of choice before quality even determines how we eat. A French sociologist conducted recently a multi-national survey on eating habits--when we eat and with whom. Results indicate that Americans are most likely (among French, Italian, Swiss, German and English participants) to eat alone, in disparate settings and with little fixed ritual. Contrasted to the Europeans (and most different from the French), Americans have a very loose definition of what constitutes eating.

A Grist.org article points to other studies that highlight the health hazards of eating alone, while multi-tasking, and with unbridled frequency and timing. There's certainly a diatribe to write about the lack of respect for ourselves, each other and our food as illustrated by our lonely habits. But there's another story here, about the potential for transforming our eating culture. After all, when folks talk about creating a sustainable food system, what's really at stake?
It all comes back to choice.

As a nation of fast eaters, we seem to have thoroughly rejected Old World eating habits. In the past century, we've collectively outgrown the parental demand that we meet nightly around a dinner table. It's not just that we're rich or greedy or impolite. Rather, corporations finally caught up to our demand for a panopoly of options. Twenty-four-hour stores were rarities only a few decades ago. Corner stores are now stocked with the rainbow of brands that we take for granted.We like to claim that we're busier than ever, with more important things to do than feed ourselves properly. So long as we concoct excuses, we'll continue to miss the key factor that may determine the fate of the food reform movement.

The question is: can folks (in the U.S. in particular, apparently) transition from a flexible, choice-ridden (and in fact monotonous) food system to one that is much more diverse but less flexible (locally-procured and seasonal)? This debate needs to happen at all levels, from the Farm Bill conference table to the kitchen table.