It’s no secret that the whole fair trade, organic, buy local movement is taking hold, but have you ever stopped to wonder why exactly? It seems like the obvious ethical thing to do, but it isn’t always easy when it means parting with more money than is in the budget. Still, lots of people, from a wide range of economic backgrounds make the choice to do without in other areas, so that they can afford more ethically farmed and sourced foods. So what’s the deal? Well, I ran across an article on treehugger that suggested that emotions have a lot to do with driving our food purchasing trends.
The article noted that when people feel strongly about a purchase, rather than even just neutral, we tend to feel good about making the purchase, with less regard to price. Feeling good equates to creating purchasing habits. The whole idea that no one was harmed in the purchase of our fair trade chocolate bars makes us want to repeat the pattern. We actually get more joy out of our purchase, so the cost becomes easier to swallow–literally.
It’s not just the warm-fuzzies that drive our desire to seek out ethically derived food, either. Apparently, negative feelings play a pretty big role too. When people start thinking about large corporations, who for example contribute to pollution or less than desirable labor practices, they can easily villain-ize them. Those feelings of “anger and disgust” totally contribute to people turning their noses up at those purchases, despite their lower price points.
According the article, one study found that if people that can emotionally assign feelings in three different categories: “contempt for villains, concern for victims, and celebrations of heroes,” they are more motivated to take action. That action trickles into their purchasing choices.
So, what do you think, how much do your strong emotions play into your food buying choices? Are you passionate about how the animals are treated? Do you get angry at having unnecessary chemicals on your food? Does that make more willing to spend more money? What do you do without to make the purchases possible?
~Mavis
Ruth A. Stiles says
I think emotions play some into what I buy and how I buy. Having grown up on a small dairy farm in western NY I feel passionate about home grown foods. We raised and butchered our own chickens and cows. It was a part of the process. We always made sure it was done humanely. I think the food industry has gotten way of out control and with this control comes the power to do what they want without hesitation or thought. I like to eat healthy but like many other families eating healthy is expensive and hard to do without putting much time and effort into the whole grocery shopping process. I think this is why so many people simply go and buy what they need and ignore the rest. I don’t think all the chemicals need to be put in the foods. It is either eat lots of chemicals or buy organic. I think there needs to be a happy medium.
Cheryl says
Yes, emotions drive my food purchases to a point, but I am really good at picking up and putting down. I had to alter my diet about 8 years ago when I began having digestive issues. I get excited about coconut Greek yogurt as opposed to ice cream now. Thankfully I have finally figured out that my love affair with ice cream was more of a buildup in my head…to my taste buds it was a huge let down. I very rarely eat processed food, I do eat a lot of whole foods, fruits and frozen veggies. I read labels and avoid soy anything, sweeteners, gluten for the most part, and the chemicals wreak havoc on my body. I can no longer digest much of what America eats these days. So yes, emotions drive me…but as much as I might want something…it gets put down before I hit the check out!
Barbara says
I totally agree with this article and think the big companies know how to manipulate us as well. I believe that is why we see a pink ribbon on nearly EVERYTHING this month.
Mavis Butterfield says
Good point about the big companies pulling at our emotions too!