Wright Mills defined, our lives are connected to the larger social contexts in which we live. Share your story of how your individual experiences, life conditions, and/or the larger social forces or historical patterns in society have affected your life.

One story of how my individual experiences, life conditions, larger social forces and historical patterns in society have affected my life is related to health ant the way we eat every day.

Currently with the opening of markets (characteristic of neoliberal economies), most countries import tons of food that are produced thousands of kilometers away. Foods that come from far away have required the use of large amounts of oil and fossil fuel for their production, packaging and transportation. All these conditions generate serious environmental impacts and contributes to climate change.

In this context, the imported food we eat has traveled thousands of kilometers before reaching the markets where we buy them. Most of the time it is food that can be produced within our borders. Imports are replacing characteristic productions of our territory and our landscape.

The purchase of imported food not only has environmental impacts, but also affects the agrarian activity of local contexts. Nearby farmers, who produce food with greater respect for the environment, face many difficulties so that their agricultural activity is paid at a fair price. Foods that come from afar are related to agribusiness that uses large amounts of agrochemicals and pesticides that affect our health too.

As consumers, we can make decisions that connect us through the way we eat with either local farmers or large food industries. This is an example of how everyday choices connect us with local, regional and global realities. It also shows how the economic decisions that governments make affect our health.