658 COULD THE POLITICS OF SCARCITY BE USED AGAIN?

[michaelo]

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. George Santayana

The Man of Steel’s plan for a new nation: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. To enforce this plan on a recalcitrant population of city people, Joseph Stalin used the ultimate weapon– food.

Stalin’s politics of scarcity began when his government seized control of the nation’s food chain from land-holding peasants and aristocrats, and put that food chain into the hands of the masses. For some reason, the masses did not take to the rigors of farming, and so food shortages, and their subsequent rationing, became a day to day reality for the city people of the USSR.

To find enough food, city people traveled by train out into the countryside in order to buy grain, in direct violation of the government’s monopoly on the purchase of grain. To enforce its monopoly, the state sponsored armed squads that roamed the countryside seizing the harvests of peasant farmers.

While the rationing of scarce food became the norm, it also became the way the government could enforce discipline upon a reluctant and often rebellious population. This historic use of food as a political weapon leads us to ask…

Could the politics of scarcity be used again?

[seaseal]

I believe the "scarcity" is already at work in the USA. Until we as community positively act for more healthy food choices, we have just as much nutritional scarcity as perhaps the Soviet Union did, and with perhaps more severe consequences for our community health. Diabetes, cancer, and heart disease (all identified as being caused by diet) are rampant here in California, with rates much higher than communities with higher incomes.

In my small town of Watsonville, fresh, local produce is rarely available in either small produce stores, regional chains, or big supermarkets. Processed foods are readily in available every neighborhood, however. An emphasis on these processed foods and meat-eating (perhaps strengthened by the contents of school lunches) may lead people to believe that a healthy diet means processed foods and meat.

The scarcity exists because of a nutritional scarcity. Those without significant economic income can't drive (or easily bus) the 40 to 50+mile round trip to shop at a "health food store" in Santa Cruz or Capitola. These health food stores, such as Staff of Life, New Leaf, and Whole Foods, do carry more local produce than any other types of stores. They also carry good protein alternatives to meat. Their processed foods have fewer ingredients that pose dangers to the consumer.

Many people here have no cars and shop at stores within walking distance, For the downtown area, this means no access to regional or national stores such as Safeway. It's as if a red line were drawn around the downtown so no major supermarket will locate there. However, the Safeway or SaveMart may not be such a good deal--lettuce picked a half-mile away from Watsonville is loaded to trucks for the LA distribution centers, and then reloaded to return to here for sale as "fresh" in their Produce Sections.

There is one Farmers Market on Fridays here with limited selections (compared to Farmers Markets in the 40-mile region with far more choice). It is a delightful place to shop, to pick up a great dinner or snack, and to converse with others who love the flowers, the great sights of beautiful fruit and veggies, and the chance to talk with others.

So, I believe we already have a two-tier food system in this country, with those of economic means getting the most nutritious foods while those on the lower economic scale stuck with foods lacking nutrition either because they are not fresh or are processed. Take a look at health issues in your community to see what happens there. See if nutritional scarcity is a reality for you, too.