New Year's Resolutions, Take 2

I saw this list that the Breast Cancer Fund put out last week, of New Year's Resolutions that contribute to a cleaner, less toxic and less chemical life. Take a minute and check it out, and then come back for some discussion. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Back? Great. What'd you think? Me, I never lack for a strong opinion, and a couple of these items are of no exception.

I do like resolutions for the 'shoes-off' policy and avoiding flame-resistant sleepwear for kids. Those both make a lot of sense, with the bonus of being relatively easy to implement with a real and immediate benefit.

A couple others, though, with which I have issue. Replacing plastic containers, for instance (which is relevant to the next one about not using plastic in the microwave). I do totally agree with the notion of having less plastic in our lives. But the problem isn't with household use of plastic. Because I could never use another Tupperware container again, and my food would still be packaged in some form of plastic at the farm, factory and/or store. And there's nothing I can do about it.

Does that mean I give up on reducing the plastic in my home? No. In fact, I just replaced a junky old plastic colander that we'd used for fruit and veggies with a stainless steel one. But it's worth acknowledging that consumer use of plastic is just a small portion of how our food comes into contact with plastic on its way from the field to our tables. Plastic is cheap and easy, and that's why corporations like to use it. Getting that to change is the larger, more complex issue.

I also have a slight problem with the last two, kicking the can and breaking up with non-stick cookware. At my local grocery store, the pricing goes something like this: generic can of black beans, 99 cents (or I can get Goya's warehouse pack of six cans at BJs for $4.99)...BPA-free organic black beans, $2.99. 

Again, my issue is not with reducing the presence of BPA. My issue is with the fact that the average American simply cannot afford to do so. The price of even the most basic recipes will at least double by replacing the ingredients with foods that we *think* are processed with fewer chemicals. I don't like the message it sends -- similarly to how organic foods are that much more expensive -- that only those consumers who have the means deserve the healthier options.

Same goes with replacing your non-stick cookware. Who has the money to go out and drop a several hundred dollars on an all-stainless or copper set? 

I applaud BCF for creating a list that is meaningful and relevant to today's consumers. But it's too easy to tell folks to just ditch what they have and spend, spend, spend to get a safer, healthier alternative. More challenging -- but more informative and effective -- is to dig a little deeper into the reasons WHY plastic is so pervasive. WHY non-stick cookware appears in every American kitchen. WHY food is priced in such a way to uphold socio-economic discrepancies between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'. WHY our biggest problem with enacting change is not the laws or the industry or the media (though they are all implicated), but with ourselves and the apathy and complacency we are all too happy to lie back upon.

Sanctimoniously yours,
Jazzy