Taking back our important role
I just finished reading Michael Pollan’s latest book, In Defense of Food, and it is full of great information, as I knew it would be. One of the most basic points he makes is that we must get informed about our food choices; not only what we eat, but where it comes from, how it is produced, and how we consume it. The idea to eat healthy, nutritious, “real” food consumed at the end of a short food chain is not new at all. The difference is that until recently, people didn’t have to think about it.
It seems to me that perhaps a shift in the way our food was produced, and the rise of big agribusiness, coincided with the feminist movement. As women went to work outside of the home and had less time to worry about what to make for dinner, this important role was taken over by corporate marketing. Women were told they could get more done and spend less time in the kitchen with quick, easily prepared meals and TV dinners. This propaganda pushed away the very person who made the decisions about what to eat, knew where her family’s food came from, and took pride in nourishing her children.
Of course women have every right to work outside the home or not, and equality is a right all people are entitled to, but the idea that providing healthy meals for a family is an unimportant chore simply needs to end. As strong women and mothers we must take back our right to know what we are feeding our children and take pride in doing so!
