The Omnivore's Dilemma

I am about halfway through this Michael Pollan book, which is more or less the culmination of my summer project of deciding what kind of diet is the most ethical. Its been a rough ride--I started off thinking vegetarian, then vegan, then vegetarian, then all organic, etc etc. There is so much information on the subject it sucks. I like making ethical decisions that involve complex information but yet a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer to engaging in a given act. But with food its just too hard. There are so many levels.
One dilemma I haven't been able to solve is the one raised by my conservative father--if organic and local food use so much less energy, why are they more expensive? Shouldn't the switch to organic and more sustainable farming happen through simple economics? When factory farming stops becoming profitable because of all the waste the market will change things for the better, won't it?
I don't have an adequate response to this, because I'm just not sure. By that time it may be too late. David Pimentel says that by the time this happens, our soil will be shot and he estimates that the Earth will only be able to permanently feed 2 billion people using conventional farming methods. Currently we have enough food for all 6 billion (though many don't get fed for other varying reasons). Pimentel says that even switching to organic we would only be able to feed about 5 billion permanently, but thats much better.
Will the market just switch as factory farming begins to fall apart? Yeah, probably. The question is whether or not this will be too late. And the answer to that question, I'm not sure of. If someone could convince me that basic economics will work it out, I probably would switch back to conventional food. Its much cheaper--and I'm not worried about the chemicals in my body, because if they do any harm I'm already screwed anyway.

That is the only objection I can't yet answer.

As of now, I think I have decided to allow myself some gray area, but try to make a slow process of switching over to organic, local, and whole foods. I'm going to try and slowly ween myself off of processed foods, and try to buy just the basics (eggs, butter, flour, vegetables, fruits, etc.). I discovered the Co-op in town is lovely enough to print on the sign of all the fresh produce where it comes from, so I can focus on buying produce that is from Iowa (as I found out in Pollan's book, 3/4 of organic produce comes from the San Joahin Valley in California)--local is probably the most important when it comes to reducing our carbon footprint, because transportation is huge when it comes to fossil fuel waste. Fertilizers are the other big one, and that is where organic comes from.
I've also decided I can eat grass-fed organic meat, because even though it takes 10 pounds of feed to make a pound of meat, we can't eat grass anyway, so why let it go to waste? This is awesome, I LOVE meat and its good to be back; unfortunately, for all practical purposes I am still a vegetarian, because grass-fed beef is expensive as hell.
If anyone else happens to be interested in where they can buy this kind of hippie crap, check out this for a great resource on finding locally grown food in your area, wherever that may be. Pollan makes it seem like the grass-fed farmer he spends a week with is one of like five left in the country, but this just isn't true. There are 8 sustainable farms within 20 miles of me.

And a final note--if, on the long shot, you are throwing a get together and happen to invite me, don't feel bad about serving good ol' corn fed conventional steak or what-have-you. Your moral decisions are your own, and I realize I am taking a leap of faith on this one. So feed me what you want, I will eat any free food.
I don't mind people coming to different conclusions about what they should eat. But I seriously encourage people thinking more about what they buy and where there money is going. In a capitalist society like ours, how we spend our money defines us--and this includes ethically. I once thought cheap was always best--but then I realized there are ways to help those in sweat-shops in Cambodia and lower your carbon footprint without being rich. All it takes is spending the money you DO have on things you DO need in an informed and ethical way.

And now, I step off of the soap box.

Oh wait. one more thing. Has Lieberman gone mad?