Commodity fetishism continues even after

While it may be said that 'Marx is dead, capitalism won,' it must be noted that the fetish link, or view, the 'rip-aside the veil' (Harvey), continues to be both used as well as useful. As noted in your earlier blog, it is often (not) caricatured and dismissed and yet is still with us. Guthman's latest paper in the PG, as well as my work in Kansas City and on-going work in Kalamazoo, MI's farmers market point that out in a new and very interesting way. From my field notes comes the quote "if a Spanish or black person is in Brookside, they had better be either mowing the lawn, cleaning the pool, or taking care of someones kids!" The crux of these studies is that even well-intentioned and, what seem on the surface to be anti-racist, policies are once again not what they seem. Guthman has done a great job at the peeling back to show this.

This suggests that the metaphor of the fetish exists and is still relevant. While we search as researchers for the big answer to the question of food in our worlds, there seems to be no real meta-narrative to be discovered. Rather, there is more and more peeling back to be done, more bringing into the light, and than more activism to move the discourse forward. 

In something that is an aside and not relevant to the actual paper but attempts to discuss your questions about the style/approaches of the 'following' review, I think that it has to pointed out that Ian is known for this type of writing, At least from the style which may be somewhat 'stream of consciousness' (although I know from personal contact with Ian that it is hard work, well-researched and disciplined). Most of us would not get away with that style, it would be taken to task for not being empirical enough, not full of enough data, perhaps too close to Derrida in writing for writings sake and not scientific. Sort of like what the blog here is trying to create. But if things are not challenged, than what are we doing? 

Guthman, Julie. 2008. "If They Only Knew": Color Blindness and Universalism in California Alternative Food Institutions. The Professional Geographer, 60(3): 387-397.