Vivienne Westwood: People who can’t afford organic food should ‘eat less’

The last time I checked in with Vivienne Westwood, she was lecturing the world on why reusing someone else’s bath water was the only thing to do. I grossed out, and so did many of you. Vivienne also talked about how meat eaters will eventually destroy the planet if a depleted water supply doesn’t do it first.
Vivienne has moved on to the subject of telling poor people how they should eat. A few weeks ago, the Independent quoted her as saying that clothes and food “should cost a lot more than they do. Something is wrong when you can buy a cooked chicken for &pounds;.” She thinks all foor subsidies should be removed. That sweeping statement goes too far, but there are merits to discussing what foods a government chooses to subsidize. The US govt subsidizes corn, which encourages production of soda and other unhealthy snack foods. (Then then the soda gets taxed.)
Vivienne doesn’t care for a rational discussion of subsidies in the UK or the US. She simply thinks everyone should buy organic food. Those who cannot afford organic food should still buy it and simply “eat less” of it. I’m sensing shades of Twiggy in this interview:
Dame Vivienne Westwood has once again caused a stir after suggesting poorer people should “eat less” so they can afford to buy organic food.
The outspoken designer made her remarks as she delivered a petition to Downing Street outlining concerns about genetically modified (GM) food in the UK.
Speaking outside of Number 10 on Wednesday, Ms Westwood advised the public to follow what she described as Russell Brand’s ‘rule of thumb’ when it comes to food: “If the Government said it’s good, then you know it’s not.”
But when BBC Radio 5 Live’s Dino Sofos pointed out that not everyone can afford to eat organic, non GM food, Westwood simply responded with: “Eat less.”
Her comment prompted Mr Sofos to advise that thousands in the UK are already going to food banks and can barely afford to buy enough food to feed themselves, meaning “eat less isn’t really an option.”
But Westwood refused to back down. “You’ve got all these processed foods, which is the main reason people are getting fat,” she continued. “They’re not actually good for you – they don’t give you strength, they give you weight.
“I eat vegetables and fruit. I don’t eat meat. I believe meat is bad for me – I don’t eat it. It’s also bad for the animals. But if there was a movement to produce more organic food and less of the horrible food, then organic food would obviously be a good value price, wouldn’t it?”
[From The Independent]
Vivienne is so privileged and distanced from the everyday person that she has no idea what it’s like to struggle for food. Yes, poor people often do not eat as healthy as the affluent do. I talked about food deserts once already. It can be very difficult in many cities to access a grocery store without a car or reliable public transport. Processed foods are much cheaper and easier to transport than fresh ones. Organic veggies are a lot more expensive than non-organic. Grass-fed beef for a a family under the poverty line? Forget it. Dustin Rowles at Pajiba put together a realistic list of food staples that poor people in the US will find very familiar. A box of mac & cheese costs about as much as a couple of Viv’s organic carrots. Viv’s “Eat less” is sort of like “Let them eat cake,” isn’t it?

Photos courtesy of WENN

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