So, I have written several times about various food movements, fake food allergies etc. There’s another thing that I’m noticing about food social movements. In a world of infinite choice, they help us narrow down. As someone who was vegetarian up until very recently, I never had more than a few things to choose from on a mainstream menu. I know what I liked, so it was never hard. I still only eat organic, ethically-raised meat, and that not very often, but it has opened up my choices, and that has helped me realize how much I appreciated NOT having too many choices. I feel the same way about the food coop where I buy my groceries. It is small, especially compared with the huge grocery stories in many parts of US, and that helps me to have less panic about choosing the right thing.
I’m not saying that local food movements aren’t important ethical choices, as are choices to be vegetarian or vegan. But isn’t it also a nice effect that they make life a little easier? Ever since the popularizing of studies showing that when people have TOO MANY choices, they tend not to buy things, it makes sense as a business model to limit those choices, and this is what I believe many niche food marketers have started to understand.
