To begin with: I hope the irony of rattling off against the “elitism” of farmer’s markets after being able to enjoy a cross-country flight in a cabin class where you still get a meal is not lost. Whatever the author had was probably much better than a bag of pretzels, trust me.  There are certainly laudable inspiration and intentions behind this piece but, with all due respect, on the whole it is naive at its best and downright sophomoric at its worst. And I believe the balance tilts towards the latter. I realize presenting a cloying narrative, as a way of building up serious points regarding American diet and agriculture, is what the author’s purposefully wanted. But there’s a line [and I’m not sure it’s a particularly thin one] between a crafty writing style and downright disingenuous oversimplification.  The question of “what do we do about that?” pops up time and again; before any one tries to answer, however, consider a few points. The idea of calling the produce at organic farms “the really healthy stuff” vis-à-vis common produce is misleading, not to mention highly contestable. To tacitly defend [“simple and beautiful”] the idea of organic farming on a large enough scale, enough to, say, feed 300+ million people, [even if it is subsidized, something that might actually distorts prices further] is dangerously imprudent. I am sure Bob Cannard’s Farm produces some wonderful pears and carrots, but there are some nasty bugs out there, and plants will not simply “protect” themselves against many on them if produced on a scale to feed America. In that regard, though it is perfectly acceptable to have a desire for unadorned [or “elemental”] lifestyles, to declare Michael Pollan’s philosophy/marketing line regarding diets as an “international mantra” is almost insulting: food security is still a serious issue in the world and even in the United States. Finally, the idea that our democracy is robustly tied [which was my impression of the author's description] to our eating habits is flimsy at best; not as much, though, as the idea that one could describe either Washington or Jefferson as farmers [they managed a farm, at most; although Adams, on the other hand, very much so]. Just as much as, although, as the claim all four Founding Fathers listed wanted an organic agrarian society.
What does it say about us that we eat so much fast food and eat food so fast?