EH - 95 : Food

"Like any good jeremiad, this one eventually transits from despair to hope, noting that the "yearning in the human soul to smell a flower, pet a pig and enjoy food with a face is stronger now than anytime in history," before moving into a matter-of-fact discussion of this year's prices ..."

Michael Pollen at Mother Jones gives an excerpt of his latest book - on the future of community agriculture. I would do the on-farm sales if i thought that it would absolve me of the need for inspection, but the rules on operating a stainless steel, washdown kitchen to butcher a few rabbits and chickens is not at all viable, on a cost per unit basis. The inspector alone costs more than the legitimate mark-up. Rules must be different from Oregon to Virginia.

"Much of our food system depends on our not knowing much about it, beyond the price disclosed by the checkout scanner; cheapness and ignorance are mutually reinforcing. And it's a short way from not knowing who's at the other end of your food chain to not caring - to the carelessness of both producers and consumers that characterizes our economy today."