The Conical Glass: Visions of China

Friday, August 17, 2007

Visions of China

The natural food chain Whole Foods has been receiving a lot of flak for not featuring enough locally grown produce. In case you haven't kept up with the latest foodie trends, the big goal these days is to eat only fruits and vegetables grown within a 100- or 150-mile radius of your home. Web sites like Eat Local and Locavores urge people to take "Eat Local Challenges," and Michael Pollan's influential book The Omnivore's Dilemma took Whole Foods to task for offering food grown by huge regional ag-conglomerates like Earthbound Farm and Grimmway rather than dealing with small, local family farms. Obviously it's much easier to use large producers, but it means that more fuel is spent trucking the food around, and removes an important source of income from small farms.

As everyone shakes their fist at Whole Foods, however, one sacred cow has remained untouched, even here in the hyper-politically-correct Bay Area. I'm talking about Trader Joe's. It's recently announced plans to open new stores in Berkeley and Oakland, and the only complaints have involved its non-unionized workforce and the impact on local traffic. The Chronicle seems content to celebrate its devoted cult of shoppers.

I will admit that I shop at Trader Joe's all the time, although I am constantly frustrated by the long lines and crowded aisles -- in fact, I've determined that the only good time to go to TJ's is first thing in the morning (where there's always a long line of customers waiting for it to open!) or right before they close. However, even though I'm not a locavore by any means, lately, I've been feeling guilty about my TJ's addiction. Looking at the packaging, it's clear that most of the store's products have been shipped in from far, far away.

Frozen vegetables from China and Denmark; fruit from Chile; chocolate from Switzerland; wine from New Zealand; lentil dishes from India -- TJ's is a locavore's nightmare. And yet as far as I can tell, no one's made a peep about the store's far-flung product line.

Because of the recent articles about tainted food from China, I've become painfully aware of how much is imported from that country. I picked up a bottled raspberry iced tea drink at Andronico's and between sips, I happened to notice that it was labeled as a "product of China." I'm not saying that everything from that country is suspect, but after the lead-toy scandal, the poisonous toothpaste, and carcinogenic catfish, it does give me pause.

It's a drag to have to study the country of origin info on the packaging before I buy anything -- also, it means I will be responsible for causing my own bit of congestion in the aisles of TJ's -- but from now on, I'm going to make an effort to make sure my TJ's purchases are made in the good ol' U.S. whenever possible.

posted by 125records @ 9:47 PM

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