I recently finished reading Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma"
and I found it very thought provoking. My days on the farm were quite a while ago and I didn't witness farming on the scale that Mr. Pollan relates in his book. But certainly the experience on Polyface Farms was a little closer to my grandfather's hog farm in Orland Park, IL back in the late 40's. Also, I spent a vacation one summer in the 50's up at our relative's farm in New Auburn, WI. At the time they were growing beans up there and I made a few bucks harvesting the beans. For fun I got to drive the tractor. I guess I am trying to establish my street cred for a nodding acquaintance with the farming life lite.
I had, of course, read about the feed lots and the fertilizer run off and the threat to the midwest acquifer that is caused by our current farming techniques. All of these did perplex me, but Michael Pollan's book pointed to ways we could influence these changes to our environment that would engage us again in what we ate and how it was produced.
I had been mulling these things over and today I read Joel Stein's essay "Extreme Eating" in Time magazine. I believe he knows how ridiculous he is being when he states that buying food from the furthest reaches of the planet ...'is the only way we Americans learn abut other countries, other than by bombing them." I don't believe most Americans even know which food is coming from foreign countries and I do not believe that eating this food increases an American's knowledge of their source one whit. Perhaps Mr. Stein is being deliberately provocative, but I fail to see how eating locally is 'deeply Luddite' as he states. The only technology involved in Mr. Stein's meal is transportation, chiefly air cargo.
I may not always agree with Joel Stein, but I was deeply disappointed with essay because it is inaccurate and mean spirited. He has done nothing to better civilization in this attempt and I don't believe that forgoing Marcona almonds in favor of locally-grown California almond is a big feat of self-denial.
and I found it very thought provoking. My days on the farm were quite a while ago and I didn't witness farming on the scale that Mr. Pollan relates in his book. But certainly the experience on Polyface Farms was a little closer to my grandfather's hog farm in Orland Park, IL back in the late 40's. Also, I spent a vacation one summer in the 50's up at our relative's farm in New Auburn, WI. At the time they were growing beans up there and I made a few bucks harvesting the beans. For fun I got to drive the tractor. I guess I am trying to establish my street cred for a nodding acquaintance with the farming life lite.
I had, of course, read about the feed lots and the fertilizer run off and the threat to the midwest acquifer that is caused by our current farming techniques. All of these did perplex me, but Michael Pollan's book pointed to ways we could influence these changes to our environment that would engage us again in what we ate and how it was produced.
I had been mulling these things over and today I read Joel Stein's essay "Extreme Eating" in Time magazine. I believe he knows how ridiculous he is being when he states that buying food from the furthest reaches of the planet ...'is the only way we Americans learn abut other countries, other than by bombing them." I don't believe most Americans even know which food is coming from foreign countries and I do not believe that eating this food increases an American's knowledge of their source one whit. Perhaps Mr. Stein is being deliberately provocative, but I fail to see how eating locally is 'deeply Luddite' as he states. The only technology involved in Mr. Stein's meal is transportation, chiefly air cargo.
I may not always agree with Joel Stein, but I was deeply disappointed with essay because it is inaccurate and mean spirited. He has done nothing to better civilization in this attempt and I don't believe that forgoing Marcona almonds in favor of locally-grown California almond is a big feat of self-denial.
