The Omnivore’s Dilemma Part 7 of 10: Industrial Organic
November 26, 2009 by dr. lam
Rather appropriate that we are talking about food on Thanksgiving Day: Hope I don’t ruin any meals!
When we walk the aisles of Whole Foods, a romantic notion swirls in our brain that the eggs spawned from “cage-free vegetarian hens” or the heirloom tomatoes from Capay Farm, “one of the early pioneers of the organic movement”, would give us a heady concoction of civility, health, and well, organic-ness to our lifestyle. In short, that we were making the right choices for our diet and our children’s diet. However, what Pollan begins to show is that despite Whole Foods and other big chain organics’ desires to remain true to organic qualities, they can’t. Whole Foods can no longer buy from small farms but must buy from huge industrial organic farms like Earthbound Farm and Grimmway Farms, which together dominate the organic marketplace of America.
When Pollan investigated what he had in his shopping cart culled from the pristine aisles of his local Whole Foods, he found items that caused more distress in his heart than supposedly the “undistressed” cattle experienced who lived the purported organic life. For example, his organic milk was ultrapasteurized, a process that can compromise nutritional value, because the milk had to travel extremely long distances. In addition, the organic milk came from factory farms where thousands of Holsteins never encountered a blade of grass but did dine on certified organic grain (what?) tethered to milking machines three times a day. He also found organic beef derived from cattle eating organic high-fructose corn syrup (oxymoron perhaps?). Further, his entrée from Country Herb (from Cascadian Farms, now a subsidiary of General Mills), an organic tv dinner, contained a wide variety of unname-ables like guar, xanthan gum, soy lecithin, carrageenan, etc. These synthetic additives actually are permitted under federal organic rules. What? Finally, his chicken he procured, reportedly organic, came from Petaluma, where chickens are cramped in tight aisles and only have a “free range” access about 2 weeks before slaughter, when they are so used to staying indoors that the pasture outside only poses a threatening presence. So is organic organic? Hmmmmm. Joel Salatin’s term for the $11 billion a year organic food market as “the organic empire” is certainly sounding a bit more true now. HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!
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5 Responses to “The Omnivore’s Dilemma Part 7 of 10: Industrial Organic”
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Oh thanks a lot!!!!!!!
My dear daughter will be so disillusioned when I tell her the nifty little (organic) lunch pack milks she loves are not all that, afterall. Arrgh, I WAS wondering how they have that long shelf life.
Have a nice day, lol.
i think it is pretty darn hard to find true organic milk. any degree of pasteurization reduces the nutritional benefits. Horizon is probably the biggest supplier of organic milk, and they must pasteurize and ultrapasteurize their milk to survive the long journey. However, at least these milks don’t have a ton of steroids and other things that I think can have more adverse effects in growing children. Sorry to blow your day, and happy thanksgiving (LOL)!
Dr. Lam, I was wondering rather turkey was safe to eat or not…lol I’m hoping it is…lol I guess they probably feed the turkeys corn.
Thanks for doing all this reading and research, very educational! 
don’t eat turkey!!! dangerous! just kidding. my mom is making homemade peking duck instead. no leftovers i guarantee!
lol Cool, Dr. Lam!!!