Assignment task:
The opposite of industrial production is artisanal production, in which the seller has an exceptional product to offer. Pollan goes on a ride-along with Art Salatin, Joel Salatin's brother, as he makes his rounds to the restaurants that buy Joel's exceptional meat and eggs. For example, the best chefs in Charlottesville, Virginia, buy from Polyface Farm. Pollan notes that an informal alliance between small farmers and local chefs has become common in many cities, and these restaurateurs are on the side of reform of the American food system. Local food, which supports community values, maybe a step up from organic, which has become a tributary to the river of industrial food.
People in the United States have gotten used to paying very little for their food. According to a study done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average share of per capita income spent on food fell from 17.5 percent in 1960 to 9.6 percent in 2007. In 2013 the figure rose to 9.9 percent. The picture changes dramatically, however, by income bracket. In 2013 those in the lowest income bracket spent about 36 percent of total income on food while people in the highest bracket spent about 8 percent. These statistics seem to bear out the criticism that the current industrial food system makes cheap, corn-based fast food and processed food available to poor people, who then have a good reason to buy a McDonald's hamburger rather than fresh vegetables for dinner.
Pollan, Salatin, and other locavores-food activists who encourage people to eat food that is grown close to home and not trucked from far distances-have been accused of being elitists who are unsympathetic to the plight of the poor. For example, in a review of The Omnivore's Dilemma in 2006, Katherine Mangu-Ward says, "Pollan fails to explicitly acknowledge ... that his brand of boutique eating is a luxury good." Some sustainable agriculturalists worry that localism taken too far can end up weakening the food regulatory powers of nation-states. They are also concerned that localism doesn't take into account the millions of people who don't have access to affordable organic or local food, mostly because of poverty
Question:
Pollan asks whether our unwillingness to pay more for food is "really a matter of affordability or priority". What do you think and what is one way we can make wholesome nutritious food affordable for all people in society?