Chapter 9 "The Omnivore's Dilemma"

Chapter nine of ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’ discusses the quickly growing organic side of the food economy. The idea that ‘Whole Foods’ is a more quality place to purchase groceries because of the ‘Supermarket Pastoral’ added onto the label. This little tid-bit of precisely worded material serves to connect the consumer with the people who raised the food he or she is buying and thus create a superficial relationship, which comforts the buyer into paying twice as much for this milk from cows that ‘live free from unnecessary fear and distress’. Pollan is amused by the tactics of advertisers to include such claims. However he himself shops at Whole Foods and feels better about the food he buys because of the conditions described that stimulate his imagination and help him to imagine a better life for the animals he’s exploiting.

Later in the chapter Pollan describes the government action taken in 1990 pertaining to the organic food market. The Organic Food and Production Act was passed by Congress which required the Department of Agriculture to establish national standards for the word ‘organic’. A battle ensued over how to define the money-making term. Finally a somewhat blurry line was established between what is and what isn’t appropriately organic. Gene Kahn and his followers argued for the allowance of synthetics in organic food, which contradicts the entire idea of organic, natural foods, while the organic farmers wanted recognition for keeping their products chemical free. In the end the blurry line stood fast, there is now such thing as a ‘microwavable organic TV dinner’.