Salon has a nice interview with Michael Pollan about healthy foods and about various food industries in the U.S. It is an enjoyable read for anyone who likes food (and, come on, food is great!). My only wish is that, instead of seeking legislation, he would go into business.
When asked about how to improve the quality of food that Americans eat, Pollan's only answer is:
Interviewer: How would you do that?
I'm not exactly sure, but we need to create a set of rules so that the produce aisle would be competitive with the junk food aisle. That's the beginning of the solution. People living on junk food aren't stupid. If you go into the supermarket with little money, you're going to buy the most calories you can get for a dollar. And a dollar will buy you a couple thousands calories' worth of potato chips, but only a few calories worth of carrots. So the decision to eat badly is rational in that those are the calories we subsidize. Our food policy is geared toward the overproduction of corn and soybeans in order to keep raw materials cheap for the likes of ADM, Cargill, Coca-Cola and General Mills, who happen to exert an enormous control over the farm bill.
Pollan's ideas for farm bills are interesting, but here's an idea that does not need force from the Hill: Pollan should go into business! Instead of "organic" and "free range", we could have food that he approves of being labelled "Pollan's Picks"!
Americans are smart, even if, in our specialized society, we do not all have time to become experts on food. Further, we are clearly willing to pay more for food that appears to be healthier, enough so that we grasp at every straw for a "healthy" label. Pollan is unimpressed with food labelled "organic" or "free range". He could use his good judgement to back a new "Pollan's Picks" label.
This approach is well suited for a free, individualistic society. If Pollan is as accurate as he sounds, then people will love his choices, he will become rich, and the rest of us will all have better food to eat. If, despite his noble efforts, he is wrong, then his label will fail but the rest of us would avoid some truly regrettable legislation.