At my house, Art does the grocery shopping! “Art is well- trained,” you say ... well, maybe I am. But as one of the few “farm boys” left residing in my town these days, I find the grocery market to be a source of information. It stokes my imagination. Mostly, I see real, fresh fruits and vegetables conveniently bundled with energy-intensive packaging. I see evidence of energy-intensive produce storage systems, energy-intensive sanitation systems and energy-intensive transportation systems. I see neatly packaged ready-to-eat cereals and baked goods. I like what I see.

What can you and I do about this? Is it out of our control? We have had decades to enjoy cheap food. Food eaten at home combined with food eaten away from home in the U.S. has consumed around 10 percent of disposable income since 2005. This cost is down from 20.6 percent in 1950 and 13.8 percent in 1975. We have been at essentially the 10 percent level ever since.