Food, glorious food

Sorry to comment on the book after Alvin achieved closure, but we've had a busy month.  I finished a while ago but haven't sat down at a computer for a bit.  I've just responded to selected questions.I liked the first two parts of the book, but as I read more and more I found myself, as Peter, with a slight case of indigestion with the tone and the author's personal cameos. I think a movie substitute for the book would be http://www.kingcorn.net/
(1) What is your 'perfect meal'?
 I'm not really interested in food that much, but I think there are three kinds of food: Food that makes you sick, food that fills you up, and food that is exquisite. Food that is exquisite usually costs a lot, with the exception of chocolate chip cookies (which by the way, have been perfected: http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/recipes/dessert_chocchip.shtml  Most of the food I eat just fills me up, and that's just fine, because there are other things I'd rather do than eat.
(3)Is processed food bad at all? If so, at what point?
 I agree there's too much corn in our diet—the imbalance that comes from eating out of a box or a can, etc. is upsetting.
(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?
I believe President Benson when he quotes: "For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves. Therefore, if every man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment" (D&C 104:17-18).   I also love the miracles of abundance in the New Testament.

Were you instilled with a greater desire to eat locally? If so, what motivates you and how are you going to do it?
I listened to an interview with Barbara Kingsolver (Poisonwood Bible) about eating locally just because she was opposed to the petroleum it took to grow and ship food to her. I would love to eat locally, but I would have to have a lot more land in Las Vegas to make that happen.
(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)? Should we really just be much more grateful in our meal prayers for the bounty of the earth and think about where the food comes from? 
I felt very much this way at Thanksgiving—I made it myself since Kristene was in hospital. I picked the apples and made the apple pie myself, and I imagine the amount of labor that went into generating all the food consumed on that single day, as well as the abundance that Our Father has given us. I've been thinking about how disconnected we are from the earth. I think there is a real benefit to being more directly involved with the production of one's dinner from the soil up. Not that I don't like my desk job.
The book, like most food I eat, didn't change my life.  Still, it's a dish I wouldn't have tried had Alvin not recommended it, and I enjoyed it.