Yeah, I'm just wondering proposed solutions to the general access problem that always exists around quality food in the US but in the context of this subject. Perfect world we should displace all the bullshit industrial chemical preservative laden crap and have everyone be able to get high quality fresh food. However, a huge chunk of city people just don't own cars. Half of them can't drive for groceries at all in say NYC, let alone to another town or rural areas. Food security has been an issue in my life off and on, probably will be again lol, but generally being poor in the US you're fucked for fresh food options even in the dense areas so shelf stability is an issue. People choose shitty food based on whether it's available at all, then cost, then convenience. I couldn't afford a car for about a decade, anywhere farther than a couple miles becomes a problem, winter makes it hell. At the time even if I had the money for I wasn't going to Whole Foods for niche products because the nearest one was a 8mi bike trip. It was about how much I could carry on my back for how long, how many trips. Or even, do I have to wait at a crackhead bus stop to make this trip? There's no 40mi farm trip in that life, or a trip to the next town because that might take a whole day even if there is a bus. Shit, the edge of town and back now would be half a day on a bus. I looked at Vancouver to Abbotsford and that's the 100mi round trip I'm talking about, or I guess 80mi in that case, but still that's a car only trip and around a job or kids or whatever normal life things.

I also looked up shelf life of raw milk and it said 7-10 days, and if that's accurate then for grocery store access in a place not near cows 1-3 of those are testing/packaging, and 1 is transport, and probably another 1 for stocking if it's in a store, you're looking at making a trip every couple days or being able to freeze larger quantities. Shelf life of food beyond refrigeration changed a lot about how and where populations could live.

It's probably not coming across in text but this isn't to be argumentative. I'm already in the camp that's mad that our (US industrial) food system stays so fucked up. I'm mad that if you're poor you're probably gonna be fat and sick and it's almost entirely the food, it will affect your whole life, it will cost you years of your life, and quality time during the years you have. I personally struggle with health consequences from this shit, from being so poor for so long that any calories were good calories. Now when I tell people bagged lettuce is a major source of e coli outbreaks while I eat a steak they call me stupid or crazy lol. If the majority of the US population is NOT local to any farm and then most of those people can't for physical or practical reasons leave their area then what? How do we convince people to do this for someone else's benefit? Caring about what is right now a bougie problem is a hard barrier to overcome in getting support. Or convincing people that it isn't just a bougie problem even though it's only for people with the means and will be for a long time. Imo it's easy to see the importance of things like this being legally accessible but if it's not actually accessible how do you get people to care enough to push for the legality? What's the larger action plan? That was what I meant.