“The Pleasures of Eating” and Food Justice Reading Response

In Wendell Berry’s piece “The Pleasures of Eating,” the author defines what is means to “Eat Responsibly” (Berry 64). What Berry means by this, is that everyone should be more aware of where your food comes from, get involved in food politics, learn about local farms, and to educate oneself about food in general. The article itself is very opinionated and although he gives strong arguments and gives exceptional evidence for being food conscious, he fails to recognize socio-economic factors that can affect a person’s food choice. The healthier and organic foods tend to be significantly more expensive than the cheap rubbish most people eat, which is why obesity rates are higher amongst the lower class.

            That being said, I agree with him on the basis that if one does have the resources to eat organically, one should make an effort to become more involved with food politics. So, I do believe that the practices he lists in order to eat more responsibly are important, and should be practiced by those who have the means to do so.

Before I started working, I took part in a handful of the practices he lists out. I had a small garden in our yard, avoided fast food as much as possible, and did my best to eat organic and healthy foods. And, to be quite frank, nothing compares to a cherry tomato eaten right off the plant. However, when I started working, a lot of my time, as well as my energy and efforts, were consumed by my job. The garden died and I paid no mind to what I was eating (I worked at a frozen yogurt shop that also had gourmet popcorn and shakes). And right now I don’t necessarily have the means to cook or garden my own food. However, when I do have a place of my own and can feasibly afford the foods I want, I definitely plan on going back to my old lifestyle, and adopt more practices laid out by Wendell Berry.

Gottlieb, Joshi, and Berry have similar arguments in that they all view organic, fresh foods as a necessity for all people, however Gottlieb and Josh outline socio-economic problems that Berry fails to mention. In Food Justice, Joshi and Gottlieb discuss the problems within poorer areas of the country in regards to the availability of healthy food. They do so by taking several statistics within the regions, and have come to the conclusion that fresh markets are among the lowest percentage of food places within these regions. Where Berry argues and preaches his ideals, Gottlieb and Joshi look at the underlying causes as to why some American’s are forced to live unhealthy lifestyles.