While Pollan is getting people to payt attention to the dynamics of "Big Organic" and Local food; others are going the opposite way and getting excited by the globalization of the food industry.  I read this blurb in another forum, regarding India, "A country that has long struggled to feed itself is making preparations to feed the world. Multinational companies are betting India could become an agribusiness powerhouse, thanks to its tropical climate and millions of farmers. A venture named Field Fresh, launched with private equity from Europe's Rothschild Group, plans to export vegetables to western retailers, including Britain's Tesco. Field Fresh has leased 4,600 acres of land and already sent its first shipments to Europe. By one projection India could double its share of global food and agricultural exports to 3 percent from 1.5 percent in the next decade, with the value of exports soaring to $30 billion by 2015 from $8 billion in 2003..."
yikes!

Well, peak oil will probably change all that.. I doubt india will be able to "feed the world' when oil is $150/barrel (or whatever).

The interview with Michael Pollan struck a chord in me.  So much so that I ran out an bought his book.  Now I feel like one of those shameless consumers that I so despise.  I didn't even wait for the trade paperback to come out!  I can't help but extend his thesis to the larger one of the sustainability of our culture as a whole.  Our eating habits in current western culture have become an extension of our consumerist ideal.  There isn't much difference between purchasing a processed meal (as much for convenience as for marketing zeal) and the latest pop CD.  The question that eats at me is how long can this type of culture be sustained?  I think that the first casualty of consumerism may well be the industrial food chain.  As Michael indicates in his book the petroleum industry has a finite future ahead of it and it is that industry that supports our western food chain.  What lies beyond that for our children or grand-children?  On another note, has anyone addressed the non-sustainability of a consumerist society?
Get on your bikes and ride!

I think Pollan hit the nail on the head with his 'Buying Local' sell. That's arguably the most important decision you can make as a comsummer. It goes along with grassroots activism as a way to make local changes that eventually amount up to national changes in thinking/buying/caring, etc. Too often we overlook the little things we can accomplish on our own home turf, and buying local is one great change we can all make for the better.

Just curious what wet mill in Iowa City is Mr. Pollan referring to in chapter five? It's a technicality obviously; we all breathe the same air.
I think we could convince many farmers to farm grass here in Iowa. We're essentially a peaceable people.
Dan McRoberts