The
section of Chapter 8 (All Flesh Is Grass) in The Omnivore’s Dilemma title
Industrial Organic is interesting for its exposition of the true meaning of the
word organic. However, even more interesting is the idea of how and why the
idea of organic food is so popular. Michael Pollan draws much of his
information about the idea of the “industrial organic” from a farmer named Joel
Salatin, who runs Polyface Farm in Swoope, VA. Salatin describes, in a very
animated fashion, the misconception of what constitutes an “organic” food.
According to Salatin, in order for something to qualify as organic it only has
to meet certain specifications set by the government. Salatin even goes so far
as to say that the government now “owns the word.” Salatin’s own definition of
“organic” is less reliant of meeting standards of measurement than it is on
meeting standards of ethics. This means that he farms sustainably and cleaning,
even though the feed he buys for his chickens may not be a completely pure
product.
In
the beginning of Chapter 9, Pollan goes on to describe how buying into the
industrial organic food chain is as much of a literary and historical
experience as anything relating to food. I tend to agree with Pollan’s idea
that much of the attraction of organic food is in its story. He cites various
phrases that appear of items stocked by stores like Whole Foods. “Humanely
Raised” and “Free Range” are two notable examples. I feel like the idea of
buying pure products, to borrow a term from Salatin has become a cultural
phenomenon. There is an integrity to the hand-made or hand-grown which can be
seen through the rising popularity of websites like Etsy, which offer artisans
a platform for easily marketing and distributing their products. Perhaps this
resurging interest in the hand-made is a reaction to the heartless mass
production of the previous decades. I don’t have enough cultural knowledge to
know why this is happening now but I recognize there is an attraction to
old-fashioned methods of production, whether in food or artisanal goods.
2 comments:
Andrew-- the thought of organic and home-made being a sort of "fad" has never occurred to me before, but I truly agree with what you are saying! Your guess that maybe the "heartless mass production" of the past being the fuel for this love of the "organic" is a really smart and, probably in some ways, an accurate one. I think part of it is also the fact that the upper class are more privy to "organic"foods and hand made artwork. This gives the lower and middle classes something to aspire to, even if they cannot afford it. Most people see celebrities going on their organic, gluten free diets and want to follow suit. But the truth of the matter is that health foods are expensive, and people always want what they can't have.
Also, the idea that one eats "organic food" CAN (but not in every case) give that person a self confidence and the (false) idea that they are more educated than the public about food, and that they are superior to the "disgusting" food industry. I'm not saying that as a fact, but I have observed that in some cases, eating organically or owning hand made, one of a kind crafts can give the owner a high of reputation and class, even if they truly don't understand the complicated term "organic" themselves.
I liked how you connected the obsession with organic and 'health conscious' foods with the aesthetics of hand made crafts. I agree- there definitely is a shift; and we see that in food culture too. The creation and popularization of farm-to-fork restaurants, farmers markets, CSA programs, etc. are all examples of this desire to understand the origins of what we buy. I just thought it was a cool touch to connect the issue of food systems to the general structure of our capitalist market- because I think they are intertwined in ways that Pollan doesn't address in this book enough.
I'm an agricultural resource economics student (I just like learning about art too!), and have discussed these topics time and again in class- but no one ever really makes this connection. Cool to see you connecting food to culture- because they definitely are one in the same, in my opinion!
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