Everyday we read more and more about food, its power in our lives, our need to focus on food as a source of nutrition, health, vitality and pleasure. Yet the sources of our food are fast being gobbled up by the agri-business sector: we have more money and fancier packaging with less and less nutritional value.

The old system of growing food you ate on your own piece of land worked in some ways to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. This had to do with ownership: the peasants who worked the land were compelled to give more and more of their hard-won harvest back to the aristocracy.

We have the same system now: we enter the supermarket, search for good products and have no idea whether buying produce from Argentina or Mexico is a good idea for us, for the Argentinians or for the future of our food production. One thing we can know is our purchases in large grocery stores do support agri-business. This means large profits for those at the top of the heap (the former aristocracy), a living wage for those who work directly for these agri-business, from the workers who wield the huge machines in the fields to the people who make those machines, and no checks and balances on whether the motivation of the corporate heads is in line with what the people who eventually buy their product want.

In other words, you have no choice over the use of genetically modified foods, over the use of sprays and chemicals which rob the land of its ability to nourish the plants we eat, And destroy birds and other members of our precious eco-system. You have no say in the how of the production of the most basic aspect of your everyday living: food.

Or do you?

We have a recent and powerful example that people are willing to pay a little more for products they know to be manufactured in an ethical manner for animals, for indigenous cultures, and for the planet as a whole. The enormous success of The Body Shop tells us the time has come for informed consumer power: people created a complete fiscal success of Roddick’s vision. The fact that this stunning model arose in an area of arguable necessity (yes, we need shampoo, but given a choice between shampoo and food…) tells us that we as consumers are prepared to look for, pay a little more if necessary for and enjoy the clear conscience of buying with intelligence.

We can make change: we are the agents of change. In our time, we are learning more and more about the power and effectiveness of change being brought about one person at a time. It’s time for that power to be used in creating the most healthy and vibrant food possible.