Who cares about food choices?

Eduardo
Eduardo
Jul 28, 2017 · 3 min read

Every time I go to a market, a supermarket, a bakery or a near-by farm to get fresh products, I undoubtedly face some difficulties. Is it my complicated brain or do you also feel a battle inside your brain when choosing your food supplies?

From indianafoodreview.com (July 2017)

You, I, everyone, we are all consumers, we all make decisions every time we plan our “groceries list” or every time we make a purchase. And let’s be honest, most of the time we don’t take very serious this entire process of decision-making because many people don’t like to spend so much time buying, or we are just not used to really think about every purchase and every decision. Instead we act like zombies accomplishing a systematic task. Actually, it is very easy to make a decision, right? Either is the product that looks more attractive, the cheapest, the healthiest, the usual one, the most known brand, etc.

However, the impact of our purchase-decision is HUGE, and not because it influences negatively my wallet (me, living as a student), but because imagine all the people that make the same decision as you, it all adds up and in the end it is huge, isn't it?

Let’s imagine you buy two avocados at the market and after you other 100 hundred people buy 2 avocados. This is 200 avocados, in only 1 day, in 1 shop or stand, in one town. Now extrapolate to a city, maybe a region, a state, then your country…. big impact right? This is translated into a direct impact in the avocado supply chain. For instance, if somebody had the ridiculous idea of an only-avocado restaurant (avocaderia… ejem, ejem…) the demand for avocado of course would increase IMMENSELY.

From scentfromnature.com.au (July 2017)

I've seen more people interested in avocado during last year than a couple of years ago in Europe. As a consequence, aguacate is more expensive and it reflects in other impacts (positive and negative). Better income for avocado farmers, maybe more jobs along the supply chain, happy consumers, but on the other hand problems like increase in illegal deforestation, loss of fresh water supply, threats to species such as the monarch butterfly (read the article from the guardian about it), unstable and dependent farmer’s income in solely one crop, etc.

But wait, I'm not calling to stop buying avocados, never! They are awesome, tasty, healthy, provides jobs, income, happiness and health. It is also not about being an extremist trying to change the entire food system at once (though I do believe the food system needs to change!). What I'm saying is that we should put a bit more thoughts and attention to the purchases we make, not only for avocado, but for food.

From thinglink.com (July 2017)

From consumer to consumer: Next time you find yourself making a purchase, don’t over think, just give a little thought about what you buy. Is it something that everyone demands? Maybe natural resources are being depleted because of it. Is it very cheap? Maybe somebody else is paying the price (such as low prices to farmers or food waste). Does it come from very far away? Probably the transportation is highly pollutant. What I propose it to have a bit more conscious-consumer behaviour, be aware, think and make smart choices. You don’t know what is exactly a smarter choice? Inform yourself, ask, watch, research and keep reading this blog :)

Foodaware

Do you eat? This is for you!….sustainable food, farming, environment and the culture behind our food consumption.

Eduardo

Written by

Eduardo

Food and Farming Fascinate me. Curious and Critical Comrade. Positive, agroecology Promotor and environment Protector.

Foodaware

Foodaware

Do you eat? This is for you!….sustainable food, farming, environment and the culture behind our food consumption.

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