Fresh Produce Discussion Blog

Created by The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Fresh Direct guilt

I was reading a blog today about the "moral misgivings" people in NYC have about using Fresh Direct, a food delivery service in the city. All I can think is that the lives of city dwellers are far, far different than my minivan-owning, grocery-shopping, and (relatively) guiltless suburban life. Here is the link to the blog and here is a selection:

If something is convenient, it seems to nullify all debate. Case in point is the ongoing moral struggle seen in patrons of Fresh Direct. They love getting fancy food and fresh produce delivered to their door, but have serious misgivings about the pollution, congestion and waste produced by the company's trucks and packaging. While I do think FD could probably find better packaging methods, I'm not sure I see a way the company could feasibly maintain their delivery schedules without using those big trucks. It kind of seems like the people who are complaining about them are trying to assuage their own guilt over using the service in the first place.The Brooklyn Record had a recent post which led to a lot of discussion about ways in which food delivery companies could reduce pollution. I commented that it was important to remember what a luxury it is to have such a service, and how it comes with a price. At that point I was told that FD is a 'necessity' for certain people, mainly because there is no decent grocery store in their neighborhood. This got me to thinking, we live in a city with one of the most extensive mass transportation systems in the world which, despite its problems, provides its citizens with flat-fare access to most of the city. Yet despite this we have a whole bunch of people who apparently live so far off the grid that they must compromise their ecological morals and, regretfully, have to have their avocados brought to their door.

TK: I'll have to give considerable thought to how I am compromising my ecological morals. I'm drawing a blank so far.

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