Organic Food- What’s the Point?

As an Argentinian, I absolutely love meat. Steak, chorizo, spaghetti sauce, empanadas, and beef stew- all my favorite things. When I found out that I had to watch a documentary about the American food industry for my Agriculture class, I rolled my eyes, thinking it would be some anti-meat propaganda shaming me for my food choices. 

I ended up watching the whole two hours with my mouth hung open, absolutely appalled. 

It really infuriated me to learn that none of what we are doing is necessary. When thinking about growing food organically, the main argument against it is “we can’t feed the whole world organically!”.

The truth is, we could. And it would be cheaper!

Instead of pouring our resources into pollution factories where we pump animals full of expensive chemicals and then vaccinate them when they inevitably get sick, we should prioritize making a good impact on the environment around us. This whole topic led me to start thinking about my mother, who back when I was in middle school, would drag me to community board meetings in our neighborhood. 

When my mother would occasionally stop at different houses on our way home from school to pick up brown bags of fruits and vegetables, I would typically greet her with complaints about how I was hungry and tired. I didn’t understand that, in reality, my mother was supporting our community and local farmers by participating in a neighborhood food co-op. Since the age of 5 I have lived in the Northmost neighborhood of Chicago known as Rogers Park, and I am very proud of my neighborhood. The community of Rogers park is a very diverse one, with a vast amount of cultures as well as beautiful parks, lakeside beaches and restaurants. Many members of the Rogers Park community participated in this food co-op, which then sparked an initiative to open a community owned grocery store. My mother, a part of this initiative, worked with others to advocate for this wonderful idea and have people sign their names and raise funding. Although it took many, many years, in June 2024 the Wild Onion Market had it’s grand opening. This market is not one of a kind, however it is truly an inspiration to what we can do to improve the ways in which we consume food in America. 

The Wild Onion Market, located on 7007 North Clark Street, is a small community based grocery store with a wide array of products. You can get organic meats and dairy products, grains and nuts, fresh produce, juices, sweet treats and grab and go meals- all locally sourced. They also sell organic name brand products if you just need to stop in for a frozen pizza or mac and cheese. Along with that, the Wild Onion Market also has a small bakery with freshly baked goods, and a hot bar that serves a daily special prepared by an amazing cook. Last time I was there, they were serving Gumbo! 

The first time my mother and I stepped into the store, it was really rewarding to see this idea turned into reality, and how the people who made this happen were helping not only bring profit to local farmers and small businesses, but making a change in the problems we see around us. In the corner of the store, there is a mural with all of the names of the people who came together to make this market for the community- my mother’s name is right there with the rest. (I love telling people that my mother’s name is written on the wall of a grocery store.) And she also gets a discount at checkout, so that’s a plus as well!

There is so much bad in the world, so much we want to change. It can feel impossible, as just one person, to make a difference. There is some truth in that, because it takes a village. If you see something in your community that you want to improve, sharing your ideas and participating in others’ ideas can really propel you to make a difference. This community based, locally grown grocery store model is genius (and SUCCESSFUL) so I hope that more people will learn from it and steer away from the traditional, awful way of American industrialized food. 

I, however, will never be vegetarian. I’ll just buy my meat organically- even if it’s pricier.  

Small changes! 

• #activism
• food