How We Can De-commodify Food to Re-commonize it
Solutions to a hungry world full of food
It’s 2044 and you strap on your nasal filtration unit to head to the grocery store. You’re one of the privileged who is able to filter the polluted air with the fancy new BreatheClean 2.0 nasal filter. It costs a lot to be even slightly healthy now. Public restrooms cost money, every city park has an entrance fee, speaking to a customer service representative costs a service fee, and there are no more free public places to hang out with your friends.
Think about what has slowly been commodified in our lives. Now think about what could be commodified. Where is the line between a human right and a commodity? How do we decide? And why do we believe that?
As a Canadian I experienced culture shock in Europe when I had to pay to use public washrooms. Access to a toilet is a human necessity, but here it has also been commodified. Never take for granted any part of your life that is free — companies such as Nestle have found sinister ways to take the free flowing, live-giving waters from local communities, package it, and sell it back at a price.
Everything can become a commodity.
Which means that anything can become de-commodified, if only we can conceive of it, and put steps in place to make it happen.
