“[tobacco, tea, coffee, sugar] were the first objects within capitalism that conveyed with their use the complex idea that one could become different by consuming differently” (Newman 2013: 83)
Newman quoted H.S. Irwin, “The original purpose in building the coffee house was to provide appropriate facilities for the “genial institution of Change”.” (Newman 2013: 79
“We would say that the strongest have survived, that is these salmon,” says Dirk of the Fisheries. “You guys here get excited about a run of 100,000 fish, we talking about 2.5 million.” (LaDuke 2016: 60)
News Article: New Storms Could Imperil Oroville Where 200,000 Were Evacuated
Newman has been discussing occupations filling the middle-man role between certain products and consumer. Modern farmers adapt to a market of the consumer and their newly monetized services begins to shape the mind of the farmer. At what step in the production of heavily commodified crops does the misdirected intention of farmers of varying degrees of moral centrality affect the food? Do the methods used to grow the food reflect the moral centrality of the farmer?
Newman’s first quote from Sidney Mintz identifies the ingredients used to appeal to individual identity through food. This observation is supported by the quote from H.S. Irwin because all ingredients were present in early coffee houses. Coffee houses also became trading centers for coffee beans. Irwin’s stated purpose for the coffee house was outcompeted by an outside interest that altered the intended collective agenda to benefit from sharing the interest of commodifying the shared interest of others. The commodification of the space affects the culture that grows from using the ingredients Mintz mentioned and the coffee consumers entering the incipient space. The effectiveness of a group appealing to individual identity can be shown in Conroy and Allen’s study from 2010.
The presence of one value system imposing their “superior” beliefs over the other also came up in The Winona LaDuke Chronicles. The stories of Indigenous leaders siding with oil corporations and assimilating the origin myth and identity of the people with the outside interest remind me of the political hijacking of the coffee house. In the communities the perception of the shared interest, land, must change when the concept of promoting the land (and other values central to the group) now includes extracting oil in the context of personal identity, potentially altering moral centrality.
The last quote about Maori and Wintu observation implies complete unawareness of long term consideration, and specifically disrespects millennia of Indigenous observation by assuming the other methods of observation are inferior to their own biological DNA testing methods. The necessity to validate other methods within your own value system suggests a potential unalignment will be found, and in this case, because of inferior methods by the other.
I chose this week’s news article because dams are a symptom of overmanagement, incentified regulation, and unsustainable planning that symbolically conflict the key principles of Indigenous culture that promote the salmon that no longer swims freely.
Citations
Conroy, D. M., & Allen, W. (2010). Who do you think you are? An examination of how systems thinking can help social marketing support new identities and more sustainable living patterns. Australasian Marketing Journal, 18(3), August, 195-197. Retrieved February 5, 2017, from www.sciencedirect.com.
Appealing to an individual’s self-interested materialistic values is less effective than appealing to an individual’s self-image when promoting individual growth and change. Analysis of the stages of change continuum as adapted from DiClemente and Prochaska suggests appealing to intrinsic benefits supports the growth transition model better than appealing to materialistic benefit, limiting iatrogenic effects and reducing potential anxiety. This study shows the effectiveness of appealing to a moral framework and supporting the change of an individual’s identity.
LaDuke, W., & Cruz, S. A. (2016). The Winona LaDuke chronicles: stories from the front lines in the battle for environmental justice. Ponsford, M.N.: Spotted Horse Press.
Newman, K. (2013). The secret financial life of food: From commodities markets to supermarkets. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Espino, J. (2017, February 13). New storms could imperil Oroville where 200,000 were evacuated. Retrieved February 13, 2017, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/02/13/oroville-california-endangered-dam-spillway/97841076/
Over 200,000 have been evacuated from Oroville, California because the dam is not safe. State water experts do not know why the emergency spillway has eroded and there are two large storms coming this weekend. This helps my project because the article demonstrates the unsustainable nature of dams and the potential for destruction.