27 Reasons to Avoid Farmers Markets

We have learned a lot about the food industry in ENGL 1100 and how it influences our society in so many different ways.  We have read about and discussed the meat packing industry, the fast food industry, the life of farmers and consumers, the cultural impact food can have, and the influence of food  on our economy.  The Kalamazoo Public Library event that I attended was about organic farmers and one of the main points to that event was about buying local produce and getting out to the farmers market.  After this event I really felt the urge to go out to the first farmers market that opens this season and I cannot wait to do so.  With this in mind while searching for satires about food I stumbled upon a great article called 27 Reasons to Avoid Farmers Markets by Valerie Comer.  In this article she gives twenty-seven statements about food that, if agreed with, will make you never want to venture out to a farmers market.  Thankfully, I do NOT agree with any of the statements she provides however I do find them to be quite entertaining!  

Here is a couple of my favorite statements:
#3. I love factory-farmed meat, dairy, and eggs.  All animals belong in little boxes.
#4. I love eating chemicals and pesticides.  After all, if this stuff preserves food, it will preserve me, too.  Won't it?
#8. I like being ignored by my growers.  Why would I want better service and people paying attention to my needs?  Someone trying to understand makes me uncomfortable.
#10. I love paying the middleman.  Why should farmers get actual wages when we could support commodity traders instead?
#13. I adore excessive packaging.  If I didn't have so much plastic to get rid of, how would I ever fill my garbage bins?
#18. I love being at the mercy of chain supermarkets, because I know they have my best interests at heart. 
#25. I want to suffer from fun things like cancer, heart disease or diabetes.  Maybe I'll get to die young.
and finally,
#27. I don't approve of seasons.  Food is dumb if it can't figure out how to be grown 12 months of the year on all 6 continents.  And in Antarctica, come to think of it.




HA!  Well as you can see I found quite a few of the statements quite enjoyable....!  Honestly, I really hope no one would agree with anything in this article, it would be seriously ignorant, but I would not be surprised if some people do.  I mean, in reality, even though the way these statements are written in a way to make them sound ridiculous they make a great point, by choosing processed and factory produced food over organic and locally grown food we are kind of agreeing with the absurdity of these statements, right?  

The overall ethical standpoint on how large companies produce food is never positive, it is horrible to think of innocent animals being locked up in cages just to get fat and then butchered so we can eat them, #3 in the article makes that point clearly.
#4 and #25 go hand in hand, of course food with preservatives will not preserve us, in fact they do the opposite.  Always eating preservatives in food is terrible for our bodies.
The best part about having local farmers and an interactive community is that everyones interests are taken into account.  Just like the farmers need our support, they are here to support us!  I mean why would someone put all of their time and money into producing delicious and healthy food for their community if they did not care about the people buying their products, it just doesn't make sense.  On the other hand, these large, food producing companies do not have the consumer in mind, it is all about money.  #8 and #18 make this point pretty clear.
The final statement, #27, is just hilarious to me!  The world is not meant to work perfectly, nothing is, but some people really do believe that they should be able to have whatever they want whenever they want it and this is just simple ignorance.  

I believe, the whole point of this article is to snap people back into reality.  So many people are so consumed by their daily lives and lifestyles that it doesn't occur to them that little things, like frequenting Walmart, can impact our world in such a drastic way.  It is easy to do things the quick and simple way, save money, and make a quick meal, when in the long run it can severely damage our environment, economy, and overall societal values.