“Food trumps politics any day!”

Carol Moseley Braun wants all Americans to have access to pure food

By Kim Carlson

January 9, 2008

Carol Moseley Braun, the former U.S. senator from Illinois, knows her way around the Capitol. She also knows her way around a biodynamic farm. Recently Grist featured an interview with Moseley Braun, who has retired from politics and now focuses her attention on building Ambassador Organics, which, despite its name, is a company that sells not only organic but biodynamic food.

Moseley Braun, who served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand from 1999 to 2001, is a staunch supporter of wholesome, nutritious food — for everyone. When Grist asked if she hoped to bring organics to more African-American consumers and to communities of color that have yet to benefit from the organic trend, she was optimistic. (Moseley Braun herself is African-American.)

Yes, over time I think that I can. With organics, as with a lot of things, the divide is less race than it is economics. In fact, a recent study by the Hartman Group found that the fastest-growing segment per capita of the organic market is among what would traditionally be called ethnic markets — blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and other people of color.

The main challenge is making more organic products available across the board to the American people, which will help to bring the prices down, in turn making the products available to more people. It’s basic supply and demand. I’d hate to see organic and healthier foods only available to the rich. I think that would be a real tragedy because it’s a matter of health, of nutrition, of our commitment to sustain the planet. We should make certain that economics and wealth are not barriers to access.

Although she wants to steer clear of politics — “Food trumps politics any day!” — Moseley Braun is still building her own constituency:

I’ll try to build a constituency for biodynamics here in the United States in the service of both public health and environmental sustainability. It’s part of a bigger vision of sustainability that serves a lot of different goals simultaneously: The more we can convert farms to organic production, the greater we promote sustainable agriculture — as opposed to these big megafarms that are run by computers. The more we can promote human-scale farming, the more we can support not only care of the environment but also care of farm-community economies.

We wish the presidential candidates were talking about food as much as this former senator is doing. Alas, that just isn't happening.