Eco-stravagance

Eco-stravagant.

That's my new word of the day. It means going "green" by spending ridiculously large sums of money, basically making it impossible for lower income people to follow the same path.

The entire green movement is looking more and more like a "chic new fad that's hip and trendy" for the socialites to one-up one another at each organic coffee clique event. Do those fancy re-usable bags need to be $4 each? Will someone making $30k a year with less than perfect credit be able to afford a Hybrid, say, made by Lexus? The Green roof ...have you seen the price on that? And who can afford clothing made from organic fibers? AND have you seen the prices for "living" foods? How can you "live" when your food costs so MUCH??

And can someone explain to me why there are NO health food stores in lower-income neighborhoods? Why are there are no "Government Programs” to teach people living in those towns about the so-called "green living"? How come these diet Gurus who talk about "healthy eating" never, ever address affordability and "true" sustainability? (True Sustainability is the ability to financially maintain or “sustain” a healthy lifestyle)

It kinda turns my stomach when simple, practical things like recycling, eating organic "peasant foods", and conserving resources become fads as part of some "movement" that is essentially relegated to the "wealthy". It's funny, because years ago, whole foods like brown rice and whole grains were considered "peasant foods" and "unsophisticated" and where shunned by the upper-class for processed foods like white rice and white flour products. The peasant classes grew brown rice and ate it, but couldn't afford the refined stuff...and they lived longer, healthier lives than their rich counter parts....

NOW....brown rice is featured in fancy, expensive restaurants while white rice is sold at Pathmark for $.49 a pound and brown rice is nowhere to be found. Do you see a problem here? How come brown rice and millet and wheat grass juice and all of the "green" accoutrements are not available to those who don't make a ton of money?

Even organic "co-ops" are not cheap, and many require a membership fee of some sort. It actually makes me sick how I hear every day about "racism" in America, and yet, the entire green movement is the epitome of racism and class discrimination. Just go into the East Bay region [of San Francisco] and you'll see what I am talking about; Healthy restaurants and health food stores in "Limousine Liberal" towns and not a single mention of the sort in the "poor" regions. There is NO REASON for this, and I'd love to see one of those "greenies" actually put their money where their mouth is and truly help those who need the education about this stuff.

Michael
Staff of Life Nutrition Consulting Inc.