How the Upper Crust Eats

Food as a status symbol

Katherine Mangu-Ward from the November 2006 issue

(Page 2 of 2)

And Pollan gets it. He writes: "Of course! Joel saw himself as more of a Luther than a Lenin; the goal wasn't to blow up the Church but simply to step around it. Protestantism also comes in many denominations, as I suspect will the future of food. Deciding whether that future should more closely resemble Joel's radically local vision or Whole Foods' industrial organic matters less than assuring that thriving alternatives exist."

But time and time again, Pollan functionally turns up his nose at first-class seats for the organic revolution because he prefers to fly only on private jets. Whole Foods isn't good enough; only local markets will do. While Pollan writes about what's happening in Lear jets across America, the real revolution is taking place in commercial coach class. Normal grocery shoppers no longer have to agonize over the choice between settling for mealy apples or springing for the pricier exotics like mangoes or hothouse strawberries. These days even the most run-down corner grocery offers shoppers apricots, cartons of blueberries, and ripe cherries out of season. Soon Wal-Mart shoppers might even be able to get an organic pineapple if the mood strikes them. This explosion in choice for the American people is heady stuff—but for some reason, the most Pollan can muster in response is mild hostility bracketed by a general lack of interest about broader social implications.

They say it's not fair to criticize an author for the book he didn't write, but in Pollan's case, the problem is the book he almost wrote. Pollan chronicles the whole spectrum of food issues in such charming, reasonable, colorful prose that the reader longs for him to help unravel some of the messy (and ubiquitous) questions about America's food politics and food culture. Instead, he gives us 400 pages of fantastic reportage in the service of a question that troubles only a small subculture of ethical eaters, all the while pretending to answer a question asked by everyone: "What's for dinner?"

Comments

Everyday Food|2.17.10 @ 4:28AM|#

I have been a reason reader around 10 years, but missed this article. I have read a few Pollan articles online and recently order a couple of his books for 5 bucks on Amazon. I haven't found much to dislike so far. I think that Pollan is probably right- we don't spend enough money on food. I am a poor guy, but we spend money on what we value. Shouldn't we value our health and what we put in our bodies?

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Pingback| 2.17.10 @ 11:47PM

The Tasters “Weren’t Entirely Happy.” - www.comxa.com - Deep Web News Radio links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…can and does work for a wide spectrum of goods. Organic mixed greens are not so very different from sweaters or shotguns or Popsicles or toilet paper as far as Wal-mart is concerned. But food scold MichaelPollan (among others) has so demonized the company that an articlein The Atlantic noting that Wal-Mart sells rather nice veg reads like a revelation. Here’s the short version of The Atlantic ’s…

Pingback| 2.18.10 @ 6:21AM

The Tasters “Weren’t Entirely Happy.” - www.vacau.com - Deep Web News Radio links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…can and does work for a wide spectrum of goods. Organic mixed greens are not so very different from sweaters or shotguns or Popsicles or toilet paper as far as Wal-mart is concerned. But food scold MichaelPollan (among others) has so demonized the company that an articlein The Atlantic noting that Wal-Mart sells rather nice veg reads like a revelation. Here’s the short version of The Atlantic ’s…

Pingback| 2.18.10 @ 6:59AM

The Tasters “Weren’t Entirely Happy.” - www.hostzi.com - deep web news radio links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…can and does work for a wide spectrum of goods. Organic mixed greens are not so very different from sweaters or shotguns or Popsicles or toilet paper as far as Wal-mart is concerned. But food scold MichaelPollan (among others) has so demonized the company that an articlein The Atlantic noting that Wal-Mart sells rather nice veg reads like a revelation. Here’s the short version of The Atlantic ’s…

|3.12.10 @ 1:58PM|#

Eating well isn't a "luxury good," it's a choice. We all choose how to spend our money and if you value eating well, you'll allocate money to that rather than picking up twinkies at the local Supercenter. You can choose to eat less meat (wouldn't hurt most of us to eat less of it and be more cognizant of what we're eating) but pay a little more to eat better meat when you do eat it.

Americans throw away a lot of food. It's amazing how many people won't eat leftovers. That's a choice they make but don't whine about not being able to eat better because you can't afford it when in fact you're throwing out part of your grocery money because you refuse to eat leftovers. Spend a bit more on better food but eat all of it. Simple, yes?

People don't have time to keep a vegetable garden? It's all about how you choose to spend your time. A garden doesn't take that much time to tend - watch a bit less TV or dork off on the Internet less and there's your precious time.

Cooking healthy food from scratch at home isn't impossible. It takes some planning and time management, but, most of all, it takes commitment. If you'd rather priorotize other activities, that your perogative, but stop with the whining. Living well isn't elitiest - it's a choice.

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