Per the Atlantic, “Crunchy, coined as a pop-culture reference to granola, has come to refer to a wide variety of cultural practices, including avoiding additives and food dyes, declining or spacing out childhood vaccinations beyond what pediatricians recommend, and more extreme actions in pursuit of health, independence, and purity.”
In truth, many homeschoolers overlap with Crunchy. There are many kids (and parents) who have terrible food allergies, and sending them to school potentially exposes them to death. Nut allergies are NOT imaginary. Lesser issues are still biggies: Gluten really does bring about brain-fog and worse, while soy is the devil IMHO.
When Mrs DoodleBob and I were in a HSing coop, many of the free-range kiddies had one or two things “off” about them. Being “crunchy” wasn’t a political act: it was an act of survival. These kids didn’t turn out to be bigots, unlike like their leftist brethren who were often drugged into not being “off.”
Buying meat and produce from a local farmer is also part of the crunchy and, so it seems, “Tradwife” culture. I do agree, it’s mighty tough to look like June Cleaver when you’re bringing in groceries from the farmer and you have a phalanx of kids. But it’s hardly racist. Indeed, the little DoodleBobs met more people unlike us on a natural, sincere, unforced basis by being homeschooled than what they’d get at school.
I have never categorized the desire for better, more uncomplicated, or homegrown food as “crunchy”. I think anyone who does is missing the important point.