"Food Confused"

Katherine Mangu-Ward | July 23, 2007

Brit writer Lucas Hollwegtries joins me in the ranks of the "food confused":

Some choices are straightforward. Processed food clearly puts you on the fast track to hell. As for animal welfare, I won’t eat anything that hasn’t had weekly spa treatments. But organic? I used to think it was a no-brainer: good for the planet (no energy wasted on fertilisers and pesticides); good for the soil (it works with nature, rather than against it); good for the creatures that inhabit furrow and field (livestock, wildlife, farmers). It is also, arguably, good for us.

But when food miles enter the equation, organic quickly loses its halo.

More about the various demands on your stomach and your planet from Ron Bailey, who says organic farming could kill billions.