Organic Farming By Laura Sayre Analysis

In “The Politics of Organic Farming: Populists, Evangelicals, and the Agriculture of the Middle”, author Laura Sayre begins by speaking about how the Obama administration initially acted enthusiastically towards the sustainable food movement, which was a PR gesture, when really, they were silently allowing the agendas of agribusiness giants to move forward (38). Sayre quotes journalist Barry Estabrook who calls this “the Obama administration’s schizophrenic approach to agriculture policy” (38). She then delves into how most of the public media in the U.S. assumes that there is “something inherently left-leaning” about sustainable food, even though recent studies have found that consumption of organic foods “cuts across class and ethnic boundaries”
Sublette and Jennifer Martin begin by discussing middle- and upper-class themed “white trash” parties and how they are mocking the types of foods eaten by lower-class Americans and how these themed parties essentially highlight the superiority of the people that attend these parties because the food eaten at these parties are atypical for them (21). They discuss how although many upper-class Americans have the money to afford whole foods and expensive ingredients, some lack an appreciation and understanding of food, and others still do not consume the healthiest foods (Sublette & Martin, 24). When discussing the specialty ingredients diet and dieter, the authors say, “To some degree, then, the food consumed within the space of fine dining has much less to do with eating or with nourishing the body, than with having achieved elite social status” (Sublette & Martin, 28). Sublette and Martin also discuss the other end of the spectrum of elites who practice dietary restraint and how the mark of being wealthy became the ability to restrain oneself whereas in the past being slim was a sign of poverty