growing trust 115Likewise, the Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP)
awards grants to forty states and numerous Indian tribal governments to
help low- income seniors buy locally grown fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
Citizen-led programs from California to New York are linking small farm-
ers with school lunch programs and food banks.
Even so, a perception of organic food as an elite privilege is a consider-
able obstacle to the farmer growing food for middle- income customers
whose highest food- shopping priority is the lowest price. Raising food
without polluting the fi eld or the product will always cost more than the
conventional mode that externalizes costs to taxpayers and the future. To
farm sustainably and also stay in business, these market gardeners have
to bridge the psychological gap between what consumers could pay, and
what we will actually shell out.
Grocery money is an odd sticking point for U.S. citizens, who on
average spend a lower proportion of our income on food than people
in any other country, or any heretofore in history. In our daily fare, even in
school lunches, we broadly justify consumption of tallow- fried animal
pulp on the grounds that it’s cheaper than whole grains, fresh vegetables,
hormone-free dairy, and such. Whether on school boards or in families,
budget keepers may be aware of the health tradeoff but still feel com-
pelled to economize on food—in a manner that would be utterly unac-
ceptable if the health risk involved an unsafe family vehicle or a plume of
benzene running through a school basement.
It’s interesting that penny- pinching is an accepted defense for toxic
food habits, when frugality so rarely rules other consumer domains. The
majority of Americans buy bottled drinking water, for example, even
though water runs from the faucets at home for a fraction of the cost, and
government quality standards are stricter for tap water than for bottled.
At any income level, we can be relied upon for categorically unnecessary
purchases: portable- earplug music instead of the radio; extra- fast Inter-
net for leisure use; heavy vehicles to transport light loads; name- brand
clothing instead of plainer gear. “Economizing,” as applied to clothing,
generally means looking for discount name brands instead of wearing last
year’s clothes again. The dread of rearing unfashionable children is un-
derstandable. But as a priority, “makes me look cool” has passed up “keeps