1/18/07 Food and Politics

In 2006 food became a political statement . We watched Michael Pollan author of an Omnivores Dilemma become the grand poo-pa of the sustainable movement. But most of us didn't watch the movie Fast Food Nation, an attempt to expose the evils of the fast food industry that bombed at the box office, proving that the majority of American s aren't ready to be parted with their burger and fries . As a response to animal rights groups, foi gras was banned from Chicago stirring up a rebellion from a bevy of celebrity chefs. At the urging of animal activists, Whole Foods stopped selling live lobsters and in 2006 consumers could purchase meat based on a variety of humane labels. We all voted with our shopping carts taking the organic movement so mainstream that Wal-Mart saw big dollar signs and jumped on board, forever changing the bucolic and elite image of organic foods. Despite the medical community urging us to eat more fresh produce in 2006 it made us sick and food born illness, even organic spinach caused us to face the politics of food safety and the impact and dangers of imports