Here is how:
For as long as we can remember, the industrialized food system has dictated what we have put on our dinner tables and fed our families. We were taught that technological advancement is good. Right? Of course, it is.
Without industrial food production, there wouldn’t be enough food to feed the masses (so we were taught). OK we buy that argument. So, what happened, in reality, that has turned the food that we’ve been eating into this tasteless and flavorless junk? The answer is simple: we got greedy. Not ‘us’ of course – the people sitting at the top of the food chain: the seed companies, the fertilizer companies, the multinational food companies with their deep marketing pockets, and yes, the mass market food stores (supermarket chains).
Is that all?
For as long as we can remember, the industrialized food system has dictated what we have put on our dinner tables and fed our families. We were taught that technological advancement is good. Right? Of course, it is.
Without industrial food production, there wouldn’t be enough food to feed the masses (so we were taught). OK we buy that argument. So, what happened, in reality, that has turned the food that we’ve been eating into this tasteless and flavorless junk? The answer is simple: we got greedy. Not ‘us’ of course – the people sitting at the top of the food chain: the seed companies, the fertilizer companies, the multinational food companies with their deep marketing pockets, and yes, the mass market food stores (supermarket chains).
We don’t know
We don’t know, yet, but we are hard at work to create a solution that will fix this disaster one step at a time. Our challenge is that we are not a giant corporation with an endless marketing budget. Nor do we have buying power as big as half the world’s GDPs.
We really don’t want to be like that ever. Volume discounts are a disease that cripples the food system and particularly the small artisanal manufacturers and producers.
here is what we will try to do:
We will find the highest quality options available at the most affordable prices. We don’t care if it is labeled organic, but we deeply care that its manufacturer takes genuine care in making it. At the end of the day, organic labeling is a step in the right direction, but it also is another way to squeeze a few more pennies from unaware consumers. We will do this homework and give you the best options available. Over time we will get better and better. We will make radical portfolio decisions when healthier alternatives become available, and it is really the right thing to do. We will not follow trends for the sake of being popular. We will analyze and question everything, and we will only sell something when we are convinced that it makes sense.
We will always give preference to the smallest scale artisanal products when it is economical and reliable to do so, and when it’s not, we will make good choices among what is available to us. We will not hide behind a private label that is nothing but the exact same industrial production hidden beneath that label. You know which markets do this best! When we cannot find a good branded alternative, we will make it ourselves or work with a manufacturer who shares our values. We will always be transparent. We will be as affordable as possible. When possible, we will have our customers be involved in our sourcing decisions, and we will always be open to suggestions. We will be efficient to make sure we are the most affordable place for you to find these unique products. Finding the right product, that is also the most affordable option, will be important for us, and we need your support and patience to help us become what we strive to become.
National identities or individual cultures don’t matter to us. What matters to us is the common language of all mankind: food, art, science, and living a peaceful and prosperous life, as one giant community called humanity. We will find great tasting and great-for-you foods in the most unusual parts of the world, made with the same values we are promoting. So, if it makes sense, and there isn’t anything like it closer to us at a better cost, we will go out and bring it to you. This is our mission.
It is a long road ahead of us and we have lots of work to do.
Godspeed.
Freerange Market Founder
Cenk Emre