The current food distribution system "…does involve transportation costs, but it also puts food production where it is cheapest," in the most fertile areas of the country and away from urban centers. (Cowen). Putting them near areas where people actually live would not only be an inefficient, sub-optimal use of that land but would also reduce the amount of land available for housing. Under Pollan's system, urban areas in regions with relatively limited amounts of arable land will have a scarcity of affordable food.
The use of fossil-fuels is what allows the world to sustain a population nearing 7 billion people. Norman Borlaug, founder of the green revolution, "…estimates that the amount of nitrogen available naturally would only support a worldwide population of 4 billion souls or so." (Hurst) Thus, about 40% of the world's current population would not be alive if not for the use of artificially synthesized nitrogen, as Pollan himself noted. (Hurst)
Benefits of Current Food Production System
Pollan also overlooks the many benefits of our current food production and distribution system. The fossil fuels that Pollan derides improve our environment by reducing the need to produce forages and other inputs needed for natural fertilizers. (Hurst). This, in turn, reduces the need for expansive, costly irrigation systems. In short, it allows us to reduce the amount of land needed to produce a certain food supply, thereby preserving more land for other purposes or as reserves.
The current food production system also has key health benefits for the overall population. For one, it allows people all over the country, even those in isolated agricultural zones, access...
A balanced diet is crucial for preventing health problems. However, many regions of the country, such as the Midwest, depend on distant regions on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts to supplement their carbohydrate-heavy local supply.
Pollan's Assumptions
Pollan's assumption that small local farms will be content to remain small local farms is naive. As family farmer Blake Hurst notes, "…even the poultry industry, with its contracts and
vertical integration, relies on family farms to contract for the production of the birds." (Hurst). Thus, even if the nation switched to a system based on small local farms tied to their communities, these small local farms would not necessarily remain small and local if their success presents the opportunity for
expansion.
Conclusion
The sustainable food movement, though a great exposition of the flaws in our current food production system, does not offer feasible alternatives to this system. This is largely due to the fact that they ignore the original problems which gave rise to the current system of industrialized, globalized food production. Many of the current system's flaws can be corrected through policy levers such as consumption taxes to reduce the consumption of environmentally harmful foods which are not essential to a
healthy diet.
Bibliography
Pollan, Michael (2006). The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: Penguin Press, 2006.
Cowen, Tyler (1 November 2006). "Can You Really Save the Planet at the Dinner Table?." Slate. Retrieved March, 15 2002. Available at http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2006/11/can_you_really_save_the_planet_at_the_dinner_table.html.
Hurst, Blake (July, 2009). "The Omnivore's Delusion" the American. Retrieved March, 15 2002. Available at http://www.american.com/archive/2009/july/the-omnivore2019s-delusion-against-the-agri-intellectuals
