Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 26
The Politics of
Grocery Shopping
Eating, Voting, and (Possibly) Transforming the
Food System
Josée Johnston and Norah MacKendrick
Introduction
People today are widely encouraged to “vote with their dollar” at the grocery store. The
rhetoric of “voting with your dollar” is not only widely articulated within the popular
press, but it is also a rallying cry for food activists. For example, the Canadian organi-
zation Local Food Plus (LFP) works to develop a local, sustainable food economy and
encourages consumers to pledge to spend ten dollars a week on local foods. According
to their “Buy To Vote” campaign,
We don't have to solve all the world's problems at once. After all, Rome wasn't built
in a day. But by shifting just $10 a week to local sustainable food, you can make a real
difference by voting with your dollars for fare that is fair, healthier for communities
and good food for tomorrow.
Local Food Plus is not a lone voice in the food wilderness. Best-selling authors like Mark
Bittman (2008) and Michael Pollan (2006) have urged thousands, if not millions, of
consumers to reconsider their dietary choices in light of climate change, peak oil, and
the various ills associated with a corporate-dominated industrial food system. Political
eating discourse asks consumers in the affluent Global North to examine the origins
of food, be skeptical of the claims made about food, and support commodity chains
that are shorter and more transparent. Consumers are told that food becomes politi-
cal when it is consumed in a conscious and deliberate way, and when you “vote with
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