Why I Write

I really enjoyed reading the essay "Why I Write" by Orwell. He gives four motives for being a writer: egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse and political purpose.

As far as my motives in my writing for this class, I agree with his four. I like the idea of being a journalist partly because of ego. I wouldn't mind recognition accompanied with a byline, showing "the grownups who snubbed me in childhood," and more so the peers, that I know things about the world that they don't.

However, I wouldn't say ego is a primary reason I'd like to write for a living. Frankly I don't really care all that much about what people think about me, I care more about the political purpose of aiding in informing the public. "A desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other people's idea of the kind of society that they should strive after." With my final feature, my goal is to write a piece that informs the consumer of the problems of the American food supply using local foods as the solution to the conflict. With this piece, I've struggled with the issues presented in the John Stewart piece on Marin's blog. Some think that John Stewart does a better job of informing his audience because he doesn't bother giving merit to nonfactual information presented by the other side. The example of global warming is given. Journalists might write an article about global warming, giving 50% of the words to scientists who have proven its severity, and 50% to politicians who argued against its existence, despite facts proving their fallacy. In writing my piece, I haven't had any motivation to give substantial space to an opposing viewpoint, because all of my research proves them wrong. Why tell the reader both the facts I know are correct and the opinions I know are factually incorrect?

Throughout the quarter I have developed a motive toward Orwell's second point of "aesthetic enthusiasm." I now enjoy writing for the challenge of creating rhythm in a story. I never appreciated the artistic value of nonfiction writing before, and studying it has made me dislike uncreative academic writing even more so than I did before. I only wish I had more time to spend crafting my story and less time on required boring readings for my other class...

Untitled Final Feature

Endless rows of corn stretch as far as the eye can see out the window of Amtrak’s 351 Pere Marquette train riding from Detroit to Chicago. The bland, dusty yellow nothingness goes on for hundreds of miles, punctuated by signs warning of deadly pesticide applications.

Much of the Midwest looks like this. Super-sized farms dominate the landscape that used to consist of forests, marshes and fields. A diverse set of animals and plants also populated the countryside a few decades ago. Now biodiversity is threatened as industrial farming devastates more and more of our formerly fruitful terrain. In addition to biodiversity, the safety, nutrition and efficiency of the American food supply is in danger.

It hasn’t always been this way. Before the industrial revolution American farmers used crop rotation and other clever methods of reaping the benefits offered biologically by Mother Nature. Like today’s organic farmers, they would use ground coverings and perimeter plants to attract natural pest predators like wasps instead of marinating their crops with deadly chemicals. Livestock could roam through orchards, providing both weeding services and fertilizer deposits for free. People ate what was available in a reasonable distance from their home, as modern preservatives and genetic modifications for longevity in fresh produce ceased to exist.

As the United States grew, so did their farms. After the Great Depression the fear of starvation was all too real, and any increase in food production was seen as a blessing. The bigger, the better. Variety dwindled as farmers began to specialize in items that were easy to grow and required the least attention.

Today, conventional supermarkets offer consumers significantly fewer choices of produce than a century ago. Crops like apples, tomatoes, lettuce and corn, to name a few, each come in a handful of varieties. In the past, hundreds of different versions of these crops were available, varying in size, color, flavor and more. According to the Rural Advancement Foundation International, more than 90 percent of varieties of each crop became extinct between 1903 and 1983.

Not only is the loss of diversity worrisome for consumers who favor choices in their diet, it endangers the safety of our food supply. Since certain pests are attracted to specific crops, mono-crop farms extending for miles actually encourage exponential breeding among a specific pest population. This multiplies the need for chemical pesticides, which are already harmful enough in small doses. Mono-crop farms are also more susceptible to outbreaks like the E. coli strain in fresh spinach occurrence in the fall of 2006.

Worse yet is the industrialized meat market. Epidemics spread quickly among animals when they are confined to the inhumanely crowded living quarters that are customary to US livestock and poultry production. Cows and chickens must constantly consume unnatural foods and drugs chosen to increase their output of milk or eggs. By torturing animals we end up consuming greater quantities of a lower quality product at a cheaper cost.

In Kalamazoo, consumers have an alternative. Several farmers in the area bring their organic, locally grown goods each Saturday to the Bank Street farmers market. In the summer this service extends to Tuesdays and Thursdays as well. Three farmers at the market have an especially great relationship with Food Dance Café downtown Kalamazoo, who cooks with primarily locally produced foods.

Dennis Wilcox and Genevieve Malek own and operate Blue Dog Greens in Bangor, Michigan, supplying Food Dance with fresh organically grown produce. Wilcox says he got into farming to be a “house husband” and work from home. He farms organically and participates in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), a program that allows customers to prepay for produce seasonally.

Pat Smith of Kirklin-Smith farms sells an interesting arrangement of eggs. Each of her birds lay a different egg, some small and round, others long and oval shaped. They run around as they please, in and out of a wading pool in the yard. One likes to lay her eggs on her husband’s workbench, leaving Smith to find and gather them for sale. A dozen costs just over three dollars, slightly less than the price of free-range eggs at a Meijer store.

Scobey’s Produce in Wayland, run by Rose and Bill Scobey, is known for a delicious variety of green beans, sweet corn, onions, lettuce and melons. The beans take a lot of water but yield many per plant, making it worth the expense.

Why make the trip down to the farmers market and buy these local foods instead of simply choosing one-stop shopping? Kalamazoo College professor Amelia Katanski says the food is tastier. “Take the tomato for example. The big farms grow them for thick skin so they’ll travel well. Locally they’re grown for delicacy and flavor.” Others support local farms for reasons relating to environmental protection and the humane treatment of animals. Still others make the switch for health reasons, knowing that the nutritional value is higher in locally produced, organic foods, and that nothing ultimately good can come from deadly pesticides.

Revision, Final

I'm not sure how I feel about the revision process right now. I really liked the 1st draft of my profile, save a few bad sentences and holes in information. Now I've added more complications to it, and I feel like its too messy and almost to the point of random info-dropping. The gold-coin mentality except I'm dropping rusty pennies instead. I don't think the piece is really as much of a profile about the co-op as it was originally, and thats a change I'm not all that happy with.

It did, however, inspire my final feature. I'm writing about local farming in constrast with the status quo of American agribusiness. I plan to talk with three local farmers who sell at the farmers market and also have a relationship with Food Dance Cafe that I read about on the internet. I'll also be talking with Holly Anderson, the Farms to K student coordinator. Unfortunately none of my face-to-face meetings will be done before tomorrow morning at 10:30 am, so my workshop draft will have quite a few holes.

Keeping it Local

The Bank Street Farmers Market bustles with activity on Saturday mornings. Local farmers, bakers, butchers and artisans gather to unload their goods on the public. Seasoned patrons know which stalls sell locally grown and organic produce, while the novice may not realize that some distributors offer the same produce as a super-sized grocery store, grown on industrial farms across the globe. This produce travels on average more than 1000 miles before reaching your plate, somehow remaining astonishingly fresh-looking after the trip. The novice might also miss the presence of cancer-causing fertilizers and pesticides used to grow their future dinner, as laws do not require appropriate labeling.

Many scientists conclude that the chemicals used in massive assembly-line farming remain in the product eaten by the end consumer, thereby contributing to the all-time high cancer rates of the American population. The book Fatal Harvest presents the results of many agricultural studies in combination with an array of photos comparing traditional farms with single-crop monstrosities. The corporate agriculture industry fights any political effort to inform the American people of problems associated with destructive farming practices with intense lobbying. Several classes on campus deal with these issues, from Dan Lipson’s Environmental Policy and Politics to biology professor Binney Girdler’s Environmental Science course. Amelia Katanski’s first-year seminar on commitments in fall 2005 ended with the creation of Farms to K, a partnership of Kalamazoo College and the local farm community.

A cheerleader for Farms to K, the People’s Food Co-Op downtown Kalamazoo supports local farmers with zestful passion. A colorful sign boasting groceries and fresh produce invites pedestrians of the Kalamazoo Mall inside, where they will find no average grocery store. Petite yellow signs cry out, Local! Organic! Whole! Natural! Tomato coconut curry love soup wafts from the deli corner to meet with the scents of hemp and incense. Unkempt beards and wild dreadlocks scurry about gathering their cherished fares, politely excusing themselves as they squeeze past one another in the tight aisles.

The not-for-profit Co-op seeks to provide local, organic and natural products at a reasonable cost. This task tends to be quite difficult in the United States, where corn, wheat and soy based processed foods are heavily subsidized. In comparison, farming legislation gives almost no incentive to farmers who grow a variety of fresh produce in a way that is not harmful to the land. Going against the grain, the People’s Food Co-Op tries to tackle this issue and offer an alternative.

Professor Dan Lipson not only shops at the Co-op, but accepted his job in Kalamazoo partly because of its existence. He researched People’s before making the decision and now proudly supports the community surrounding it.

Many customers with memberships do the vast majority of their grocery shopping at the Co-op. Though a wide range of ages and income levels belong to this group, customers share a few similarities. The regulars generally live or work downtown and tend to be environmentally conscious. They often arrive with cloth grocery bags and empty containers, leaving with them full of bulk grains, pasta and dried beans and a smile on their face. People’s is a community within a community, where customer service rules. Member requests dictate the inventory carried and may include personal orders for items not already available. Employees quickly approach the obvious first-timers to offer needed guidance.

Members of the core group include the young, trendy staff members. Heather Finch, 22, works as the assistant manager at People’s and like most employees, spends much of her free time hanging out and shopping there as well. Even with her modest income she only shops elsewhere when she needs a bottle of wine.

“I eat nasty food sometimes too,” Finch admits, “but when I’m eating well I feel better.” Does she feel like she is giving up a lot to eat this way? “Yes. The potential for thousands of dollars of medical bills.”

Boxed macaroni and cheese costs two dollars at People’s, while the standard version holds strong at $0.49. “Look at the ingredients! You have to know what you’re paying for,” Finch counters. The conventional type has several ingredients no one but a chemist could identify or pronounce.

This goes for produce as well. Local eaters have to pay extra for farmers not to process their crops into packaged foods laden with salt and corn syrup. They pay them to farm the old fashioned way, without a deadly fog of cancer-causing pesticides and genetically weakened seeds. They pay so farmers can earn a decent living without hefty subsidies from the government. They demand that farmers treat their land and animals with care.

Kalamazoo College student K’tanaw Schiff, 20, agrees. She proudly declares that her whole suite enjoys using the co-op. “I’m okay with paying more because their stuff tastes better. Its local and animal friendly and I support that.”

Competition with other health stores in town doesn’t seem to phase the Co-op staff, who don’t aim to compete with the massive grocery conglomerates on the outskirts of town. Sometimes they send customers to Natural Health Center on West Main if they can’t find a certain item, especially for natural medicines or beauty products. One competitor with a drastically different approach to the business of health is Sawall Health Foods on Oakland Drive. Much like a cleaner version of Walgreen’s, the store blasts customers with air conditioning and fluorescent lighting. Packaged products stand in perfect military formation on cold metal shelving in a dozen double-wide aisles. The same 32 ounce organic yogurt costs 60 cents more than at the Co-op. No chefs bustle in the back making fresh sandwiches and soups but bakery breads from as far as Florida fill the freezers.

Back at the People’s Food Co-op, customers proudly buy bread, dairy, eggs, produce, music and even supplies like dish cloths made in Michigan and northern Indiana. As patrons multiply, the store aspires to move to a larger location by 2009 within the downtown area, remaining the glue that holds this eclectic community together.

Reading Response Week 7

I didn't think the Ria Cortesio story was particularly gripping. It had a lot of potential, but the obvious tension that she faces being a woman in an exclusively male world didn't come through to me in the narrative. There was a lot of joking around, but no real conflict there. Another part I thought was missing was her decision to do this. She graduated summa cum laude from Rice and went to umpiring school after that, only to be paid very little and be made fun of. The only reason given for choosing this is "umpiring fascinates her." There are plenty of things that fascinate me that I wouldn't spend a significant portion of my life dedicated to, especially in the face of ridicule. This reporter needed to go deeper than simple fascination.

Interviewing

I decided for my weekly blog to write about my main interview for the profile piece.

I chose to interview Heather Finch about the People's Co-op after researching on the website and doing a lexis-nexis search for articles on the Co-op. I saw that the Gazette had interviewed her a couple times and that she was writing a book on the history of the co-op, and is a director and employee. I didn't know she was the assistant manager until during the interview, so that worked out well.

When I went down to the Co-op for the interview, she came right out to meet me and was very excited to tell me about the store. I asked her to show me around and tell me about the products and where they come from. She was a little nervous and asked me about halfway through if she was doing a good job.

After the tour, we went outside and sat in the sun at a table to talk about things and let me ask questions. It was really nice I think because she was really comfortable and I was able to watch how she interacted with customers as they went in and out of the store. Some of her friends stopped to talk a few times and then realized we were doing an interview, which kind of embarassed her but I saw it as an opportunity to see more of the community surrounding the co-op.

Overall it was a really great interview and I didn't have to do much at all to get the information I wanted. She obviously loves talking about the co-op, and showed a lot of passion when I asked questions that covered some of the criticism from the general public.

Eating Well and Keeping it Local

A colorful sign boasting groceries and fresh produce invites pedestrians of the Kalamazoo Mall inside, where they might find that this is no average grocery store. Petite yellow signs cry out, Local! Organic! Whole! Natural! Tomato coconut curry love soup wafts from the deli corner to meet with the scents of hemp and incense. Unkempt beards and wild dreadlocks scurry about gathering their cherished fares, politely excusing themselves as they squeeze past one another in the tight aisles. Employees quickly approach the obvious first-timers to offer needed guidance.

The People’s Food Co-Op downtown Kalamazoo does not aim to compete with the massive grocery conglomerates on the outskirts of town. The not for profit Co-op seeks to provide organic, locally grown and natural products at a reasonable cost. This task tends to be quite difficult in the United States, where corn, wheat and soy based processed foods are heavily subsidized. In comparison, farming legislation gives almost no incentive to farmers who grow fresh produce. Going against the grain, the People’s Food Co-Op tries to tackle this issue and offer an alternative.

For some customers People’s fits with their environmentally conscious lifestyle. Others simply have to know what exactly they’re eating, and that it’s healthy. A few only come in for one hard-to-find snack that fits their gluten-free diet, but a core group of members do the vast majority of their grocery shopping at the Co-op. Their requests dictate the inventory carried and they can browse vendor catalogues to make personal orders for items not already available. The most die-hard members arrive with cloth grocery bags and empty jars, leaving with them full of bulk grains, pasta and beans and a beaming smile.

Members of the core group also include the young, trendy staff members. Heather Finch, 22, works as the assistant manager at People’s and like most employees, spends much of her free time hanging out and shopping there as well. Following nearly three years of employment at the Co-op, most customers refer to her as the “co-op girl” when they see her somewhere else in town. Even with her modest income she eats almost entirely organic and only shops elsewhere when she needs a bottle of wine.

“I eat nasty food sometimes too,” Finch admits, “but when I’m eating well I feel better.” Does she feel like she is giving up a lot to eat this way? “Yes- the potential for thousands of dollars of medical bills.”

Mainstream America commonly assumes that an organic diet would be too expensive. Evidence to support this theory inhabits any conventional grocery store, where sad-looking organic strawberries cost more than double what genetically-altered pesticide-laden cartoon-sized strawberries do. Boxed macaroni and cheese costs nearly two dollars at People’s, while the standard bright yellow version holds strong at $0.49. “Look at the ingredients! You have to know what you’re paying for,” Finch counters.

Though the list does not reach even half the length of that of a Twinkie, it may make you reconsider your appetite. The cheese-like sauce for this “enriched macaroni product” produced by Kraft Foods contains whey, milkfat, milk protein concentrate, salt, sodium tripolyphosphate, citric acid, lactic acid, sodium phosphate, calcium phosphate, milk, yellow 5, yellow 6, enzymes, and last but not least, cheese culture. To make this substance edible, the chef must add milk and some form of a butter-substitute. Those that choose the higher price for a more natural macaroni and cheese dinner pay its producer not to add some of these ingredients to it.

This goes for produce as well. Organic eaters have to pay extra for farmers not to process their crops into packaged foods laden with salt and sugars. They pay them to farm the old fashioned way, without chemical pesticides and genetically altered seeds. They pay so farmers can earn a decent living without hefty subsidies from the government.

Another employee preaches to the choir from the produce section. “Food just tastes better when you know where it’s coming from, that the land was farmed with care, and that the farmers were paid well. It has a whole other flavor.”

Kalamazoo College student K’tanaw Schiff, 20, agrees. She proudly declares that her whole suite enjoys using the co-op, as her roommates include vegetarian and vegan consumers. The variety of products at People’s also has enough options to fit within Schiff’s kosher diet. “I’m okay with paying more because their stuff tastes better. Its local and animal friendly and I support that.”

How much more are they really paying? Finch disagrees that it’s too expensive for most to eat organically. “If you buy grains in bulk, shop at the farmer’s market, and buy what is in season, you can eat cheaply and organically at the same time. But you have to take the time to cook.” Lucky for the cooking-challenged members, the Co-op community collaborates to sustain a bank of recipes, with copies of recent ones hanging above the produce for anyone to bring home. They coach each other on cooking techniques of vegetables with names that are rarely seen in a one-stop-shopping complex.

In offering natural and organic foods People’s encourages an overall healthy and environmentally friendly lifestyle. They live by the three Rs, reducing, reusing and recycling as much as possible. They minimize energy use and support local businesses including farms and health stores. Local music and artwork also sell well at the Co-op, recent additions to the inventory.

The activities at the Co-op represent a greater movement among American culture demanding real food at reasonable prices. The farm bill will be up for renewal this year, and hopes are high that per-unit corn subsidies will finally decrease in favor of healthier produce. With low income as the best predictor for incidence of obesity in the country, people are starting to take notice. Many other illnesses can be traced to poor diet and some members of the American populace want to go back to their roots.

Finch says “you have to decide that you’re worth it. Your body is worth healthy food.”