Food Politics

I have just finished Omnivore's Dilemma and I hope to keep my many thoughts neatly contained into concise episodic posts.

On most issues food and economics I agree with Joel Salatin, and further agree with Michael Pollan's thoughtful commentary. Free market globalization is irresponsible, neglecting human and environmental health for the almighty dollar. As soon as something can be produced cheaper somewhere else it will stop being produced here. Governments and consumers reward this hunt by continuing to fund it regardless of why it is cheaper to produce something somewhere else. It is not universally bad that something be produced somewhere else more cheaply, but the consumer should know why and be able to assess whether paying a lower sticker price is representative of the actual price of that product. The cheaper price might be caused from more lax environmental or labor regulations, less taxes, or easier access to necessary resources. We do not know, and as consumers not knowing and not caring are too closely linked in the age of consuming on a global scale.

Polyface farm products are priced honestly rather than irresponsibly. Their price factors in the cost of labor, environment, resources, producing, transporting and the like. Salatin encourages his customers to come to the farm and observe the entire process of creating the products they consume. He has nothing to hide. Wal-Mart has some things to hide because Wal-Mart's prices do not factor in the actual costs of doing business to create the low sticker price.... Fortunately for them, they hide behind the largest and most elaborately constructed walls that have ever been built for the purpose of protecting industry. The walls were paid for with tax dollars from working and consuming citizens, the very same people the walls are trying to keep out.