The Dalston Conundrum

Each week I make my way to the Stoke Newington Organic Farmers Market. At the market, a cornucopia of delicious locally grown organic foods awaits my plunder – greens, root vegetables, cheeses, meats, and fish. Considering the quality of the provisions on offer, prices are reasonable, probably on par with what you might pay in a supermarket. Yet as I journey on the bus to Stoke Newington every Saturday a different reality presents itself in Dalston along Kingsland Road – row after row of cheap local supermarkets peddling an eclectic range of fruits, veg, and meats, often of an international flavour. The patrons usually appear to be of limited economic means and are from a wide variety of nationalities. Such a dichotomy raises questions that our society must consider. How can the local and organic food movements reach out to diverse communities in a non-dictatorial way? This is the Dalston conundrum.

Dalston is a vibrant and thriving community. Turkish, Nigerian, and Polish residents live alongside young professionals and starving artists. This eclectic community demands produce from around the world, often to satiate the needs of immigrants wanting to preserve culinary traditions from their home countries. This might include cassava from Africa, okra from Turkey, or perhaps just Halal meat. On the one hand the desire to eat culturally relevant foods must be respected in a democratic and free society. On the other hand, the carbon footprints of such foods are probably frightening large, especially given the factory produced nature of much of the meat, frozen fish, and some of the fruits. It is ironic that climate change will disproportionaly affect the countries producing much of this food and in turn result in further refugees and immigrants landing on the shores of the UK, Canada, and the States. Can these two challenges be reconciled?

The meat question is perhaps the easiest to address as it is the most carbon intensive and presents itself with a public health dimension as well. Certainly the issue of culinary respect is a bit less relevant as most cuisines offer plenty of vegetarian options. Where Halal meat is concerned, there are indeed organic Halal producers, such as Abraham Natural Produce (their website is well worth a read!). Likewise, many producers of exotic fruits and vegetables use little to no pesticides or farm machinery, offsetting the effects of shipping, but this is rarely disclosed. What of the importance of local retailers over the supermarket giants? The key is getting such producers in contact with local vendors to ensure choice is widespread and transparent. This is where community groups, retailers, and producers must all come together to agree shared values regarding the food supply and our environment. Certainly price signals as a result of a carbon tax can help change behaviour, but without an underlying alignment of values, true change is this sphere is quite difficult. In the absence of a dialogue with community stakeholders the existing debate will be marred by perceptions of ecological recklessness on one hand and dictatorial elitism on the other. So long as diversity and community are valued, I believe it is possible to reconcile these difficult questions, but it will require the initiative of the community in question to make a difference – that is something we can all share and value.

In the coming weeks I will address the issue of elitism that clouds the organic movement and how a new discourse can be constructed around ethically produced foods.