I have been a great fan of Michael Pollan's books, which also got me going on some of the recent movies like King Corn, and most recently to some of the issues with sea food. I suppose that with all of the important issues out there, it is hard to keep up with everything. But the practices of factory farming and ranching and overfishing seem to have pretty important implications for one's health and well being, animal rights, and the environment.
Unlike public policy and politics where we mostly observe and grouse about things, how we choose our food sources is something that everyone can participate in on an almost daily basis and make a small difference. It's definately made a difference in my shopping and eating habits.
Among my aquaintances, I think more than half have at least read one of Pollan's books and maybe seen one of the movies or PBS features. But for the most part I can't really see many changes in the way these people shop or eat. What little I can tell while shopping I'm not see any big differences. People are still buying the factory eggs, with full knowledge that the laying hens are raised six to a compartment the size of an auto battery and may be contaminated with pathogens, just as an example. This just is wrong and doesn't make sense to me? The solutions are pretty easy, though sometimes a little more expensive.
Probably most of the people who participate in the forums are a little more concious of their shopping habits, but I'm curious what you might be observing with others. Do you see things changing just a little, some, or not at all? Any theories as to why or why not?
I'm considering getting slighlty more active with one of these issues, and trying to understand a little more.