Grass

After class on Monday, night I did think somewhat about ethics and ethical dilemmas we might have by "choosing" who gets food...but we already do this by putting a price on food.  Generally speaking, healthier foods tend to be more expensive, therefore those with steady jobs typically have better diets than those who struggle from month to month with expenses.  Also where we were born puts a predetermined diet in our lives, by eating what is available to us in the area we live in.  So for Americans, this could be anything from organic to fast food whereas in Mexico the diet is very limited to what they can import.  Some people can afford good food and some cannot, that is the way it is and yes we can donate food to those less fortunate, but we (United States) cannot feed everyone forever. 

I found several things interesting in the reading, but this quote on page 139 struck me as interesting, "I learned, for example, that some organic milk comes from factory farms, where thousands of Holsteins that ever encounter a blade of grass spend their days confined to a fenced 'dry lot,' eating grain and tethered to milking machines three times a day."

I tried to research what the United States classifies as organic, but none of the web pages were running because of the cut in government funding, so Wikipedia had to suffice.  The National Organic Program administers the Organic Seal to products that meet specified requirements.  The Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 "requires the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances which identifies synthetic substances that may be used, and the nonsynthetic substances that cannot be used, in organic production and handling operations."

So, there is a specific list that manufacturers have to follow if they want their product to be deemed organic,  therefore farmers can use factories and pesticides in their products as long as the product is up to code.  Pollan's point is now undermined...yes, companies can use a picture of a green pasture on their milk carton, that doesn't mean that the cows themselves ate green grass everyday.  However, a product is not allowed to boast grass fed bovines unless they are actually grass fed.  So, the consumer sees what he or she wants to see when they go into the grocery store and buys products as for quality, we should all start reading the labels.  Maufacturers cannot put something on the label unless it is true, in regards to USDA and FDA regulations.