Welcome to the December 2023 edition of Food, Fiber, and Fashion Quarterly (vol. 4), a magazine devoted to exploring various aspects of products we commonly consume to clothe or nourish our bodies. As with previous issues, contributors here seek to reveal dimensions of consumerism that typically remain hidden to ordinary consumers. In the academic discipline of economics, this lack of knowledge on the consumers’ part creates an imbalance of information between seller and buyer called information asymmetry. Writ large, the economists tell us, the uneven distribution of information can lead to power imbalances and market difficulties among economic systems.  For ordinary consumers, information asymmetry can lead us unwittingly to support industries whose products, production functions, or business models wreak havoc on the environment, employees of the industry, our health, or society more generally. Information asymmetry can also mean purchasing products that purport to solve a particular problem but end up causing other, equally problematic situations even as they solve the original problem. Finally, consumers’ lack of knowledge can lead to purchasing products that seem to be a good deal, but in the end, fail to deliver on their promises.

To ease your reading experience, we have grouped articles by topic:

In the first section, The Unknowns of Agriculture authors Kyla Study and Anna Carroll consider some hidden realities in the agricultural sector that result in the exploitation of farm workers and small farmers by large, powerful corporations. In the same section, Zachary Todd explores the many health hazards associated with industrially-produced vegetable oils and shortenings, fats most Americans consume daily.

In The Price We Pay for Preference, Kayla Smock takes a close look at the tradeoffs we must concede for the variety and availability of out-of-season fruits and vegetables. While we may have access to strawberries in December, how far have they traveled and what do they taste like? Shifting topics to the sports garment industry, Patrick Felts invites us to have a close look at counterfeit sports jerseys, which may satisfy the budget-conscious sports fan, but only at the price of quality.

In the magazine’s final section, A Sustainable Future? Britta Hess considers cow’s milk and its many alternatives with an eye to both health and sustainability concerns. With first-hand experience working in the used clothing industry, Livvie Hurley helps us understand how the current trend of thrifting has in effect priced people of low income out of the market. Finally, concerned with the unsustainability of the rampant food waste in our culture, Italia Ramos takes a close look at the coffee mega-chain Starbucks to investigate the realities of its food waste.

We are all unavoidably consumers in a complex, globalized world, and we cannot hope to know all things about everything we buy. Still, we hope our magazine will shed some light on a few consumables and help guide your purchasing decisions as a consumer, for we believe that informed consumers are a step in the right direction of building a healthier, happier, more sustainable world for all.

~Eric Metzler and Perspectives on American Consumerism seminar participants