I've Got The Quinoa Blues

Last month several members of the New Boston Food Buying Club shared a bulk order of black quinoa. I participated, planning to use quinoa to increase the protein value of my bread.

After placing the order for quinoa, I heard a news report about quinoa having been a dietary staple and important source of protein for Andean people. Now the people who have cultivated this grain-like food since 3,000 B.C., can no longer afford to eat it. Why? Because spoiled, thoughtless people like me, who have a myriad of protein sources readily available, have become big consumers of quinoa. It's a fashionable food in the United States now. Basic capitalism is at work here: demand increases price, and the price has grown too high.

I made bread today and added some quinoa, but I did it with a heavy heart. I guess my diet doesn't really require quinoa, and when I've used up my supply, I don't intend buy more unless it was grown in the United States.

Some would argue that by purchasing quinoa we are helping provide economic development for poor countries. But is it really a good thing to take away nutritious food and replace it with the ability to purchase a bag of Fritos and a Coke? No, I believe this is a good time in world history to preserve traditional, self-sustaining ways of life. Hard times lie ahead, for, as Thomas Friedman recently wrote in his New York Times column, "The earth is full."