What about food?

In the past when I've brought up this idea the first response I got is "But what about food? Won't we all starve to death?"

This assumes that people work simply because of money and without it we'd all just quit. I don't believe this is true. We all have things we enjoy doing and we're good at. Some of us are able to make that thing our jobs. Those of us who are in those jobs would obviously keep doing them. As for those that don't I'll save for another post. Farming is one of those careers that is a calling for a number of people. For some families it's what they grew up doing and continue with. I think it's safe to say that most farmers aren't in it to get rich. The industry as a whole has always been subsidized by government.

A world without money just means it's without money. People still work, they just don't get paid and they don't have bills to pay either. The money merry-go-round that we go through simply goes away. One of the bigger things that would change is work in general would become what we consider volunteer work today. As people do now, they'll see duties/tasks that they really feel needs to be done and chip in their time and expertise to do it for free. A money less society means everybody would be doing this.

I'll say the dominance of corporate farms over family farms does put a wrinkle in this. A lot more people are farming as a job instead as a way of life. Still, food will be a primary need and I have no doubt we will continue to feed ourselves. Suggesting that we wouldn't and would just starve to death because we are lazy is just dumb on the face of it. Humans have a pretty strong sense of self preservation if nothing else. The hope I have is that we produce enough of it that we have less overall hunger. We might not feed ourselves the exact same food we eat today. That would all depend on what food people feel is worth devoting their time to.

There might be enough fans of Twinkies out there that will continue to make them in enough quantities to feed those that want them. The same might not be true for other food related jobs. Lots of people like McDonalds hamburgers, but will enough people be willing to step behind the counter and start making them at the speed and quantities needed to fill that demand? If not, then do we really want them? We might want them enough that we're willing to pay a couple bucks when it's convenient. Doing that is easy. But if not enough people are willing to do the work, then maybe we don't want them as badly as we say we do. That could change out society in some eye-opening ways. Perhaps a world without money could lead to people eating a healthier diet.. or worse.

As for me, I'm a big chicken finger lover. If I find there is a shortage, I'll gladly chip in some time to make some for myself and others. What food would you be willing to devote your time to making?