Alvin stole the title for my posting

I meant to add to the food discussion sooner, but the ox was in the mire, and then after I got the ox out of the mire it was a little dirty and took several hours to clean up. I did however listen to about half of The Red Badge of Courage while working on those projects that needed my attention. Like Alvin I listened to The Omnivore's Dilemma, so there may be a slight disconnect between what I heard and what I remember.

In addition to Alvin's questions, I will add a few questions/thoughts of my own.

Discussion Questions:
(1) What is your 'perfect meal'?
Homemade soup and bread, along with a nice green salad (preferably from the garden). Soup and bread are my comfort foods.

(2) What rights do you think animals deserve?
Veterinary Ethics was a required class at UC Davis (as it probably is at all US schools of veterinary medicine), and this topic was discussed. It is such a big question, that it would need to be answered in a space that even google may not be able to accomodate (doubt it). In veterinary medicine we try to balance the animals' right/needs with that of the humans' (owner/consumer/veterinarian/veterinary technician/etc.). I agree with Peter that we are wise stewards.

(3) [I]s processed food bad at all? If so, at what point?
I believe that processed food isn't bad so much as it is less nutritious. It becomes bad when melamine is added to it, or it becomes tainted with C. botulinum toxin, or Hg. The poison is in the dose.

(4) Can we feed the country without the use of large amounts of fossil fuel? If we don't come up with another energy source or if the population of the world out grows our ability to produce food, will we eventually have mass starvation?
In one of my undergrad classes, I was taught that US agriculture is the only part of the US economy that has a positive trade balance. That may or may not be true (help me out here guys), but the positive trade balance has been decreasing. Is this because we are exporting less food or importing more (probably the latter). I don't think it is the energy supply alone that will determine whether or not there is mass starvation. I think there needs to be better management of resources (what to plant, what gets used, what it gets used for).

(5) Were you instilled with a greater desire to eat locally? If so, what motivates you and how are you going to do it?
I enjoy going to the local farmers market. I don't feel like I can afford to exclusively eat local, but if I were made aware of a Poly-Face type farm here, which was competitely priced, I think I would go for it.

(6) Are those of you that are for more government regulation in the financial market, are you for additional regulations in the food market? Did the regulation of the organic market help or hurt the organic food industry?
I don't like the idea of price fixing, but I agree with Peter that health standards are important. Upton Sinclair inadvertently helped out with that.

(7) What did you think of Pollan's version of 'grace'? What do you think is the inherent benefit of actually saying grace (assuming that our food isn't really cursed and won't make us sick if we don't bless it)?
I don't remember Pollan'ts verson of "grace." As a kid I used to worry about the food not being good if it wasn't blessed. Now I see meal-time prayers being an opportunity to be thankful for abundance and good healthy food, though I do believe that if I pray for added energy, or that my body will be better able to use the food, God will hear and answer my prayer.

(8) Has reading this book changed the way you will eat?
Not in and of itself, but it has given strength to ideas I already had about food: eating less processed foods, being more thankful for the food that I have, slow down and enjoy what I eat.

Now, thoughts that I took the time to stop and list as I listened to the book:

A) Rats, the other omnivore, can't vomit, therefore it's dilemma is even greater.

B) The human is not at the top of the food chain, the marketing firm is.

C) There is something very satisfying about eating a meal from food grown yourself or even meals cooked from scratch.

D) I wonder how the individuals and businesses that were interviewed feel about the book after having read it. I wonder if there are/were any regrets or gripes with the author.

E) The author quoted someone who said that if an animal is suffering, we will recognize it. This is not necessarily true, especially in prey species which may hide pain and illness to make themselves less likely targets for predators. What can we translate from that understanding to humans? There are definitely people who hide their suffering (physical and emotional).

F) The author suggested that if animal processing became transparent, most people would become vegetarians. This implies to me that most individuals who work in meat processing plants are vegetarians. Perhaps they thought about becoming vegetarians after the first day or two of work, but the repetitiveness of their job probably dulled their senses to the nature of what they do and they overcame their distaste.
Some of you may remember that I worked at the BYU Meat Lab during my first semester at BYU. Though I did not become a vegetarian, I did develop a temporary aversion to hot dogs, not because of what is in them or any cruelty or morbidness in the processing of them (which there wasn't), but simply because after handling thousands of cold wet frankfurters each day, I wanted a bit of a respite.

I might also add, that during vet school, I did a poultry medicine rotation which included a trip to a lab that used chickens in their research. I slaughtered dozens of chickens, which was difficult the first couple of times, but became disturbingly easy quite quickly. It was never as difficult to euthanize sick pets, probably because I wasn't killing them with my hands as I was with the chickens.

G) "Eating's not a bad way to get to know a place." I don't remember the context of that quote in the book, but food is a great way to learn about different cultures.

I enjoyed the book, especially the technical and historical aspect of corn/agriculture/fertilizer/processing/etc., but not so much the author's story about being a farm hand or Rambo or Julia Child. The efficiency of Poly-Face farm was pretty cool.

Thanks for the book, Alvin. It was delicious.

Congratulations to those of you who actually read all the way through this post.