The trip between a whiskey bottle and its processing plant
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At the opening of The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan has purchased a cow. He hoped to follow Steer number 534 from his start in a massive feedlot to his end, on a dinner table. Unfortunately, Pollan wasn't able to follow his steer as far as he hoped. But his idea may have had some influence on Scott Ballum, a Brooklyn resident who has decided to follow the chain of his consumption. His Mission: "A year-long effort to meet the laborers and craftsmen who build what I buy – and put a human face on consumption. For every transaction, there must be a personal connection with someone along the production chain."
That hasn't meant he's given up his Kentucky-brewed Maker's Mark, but he did shake hands with one of the guys who turns the barrels.
He's documenting his experiences, thoughts and travels in a blog. In one entry he asks how this experiment has changed his life. "The honest answer is that I'm finding it affects everything. Generally, I haven't sacrificed anything major (a cup of coffee while out and about, using hair product since I've run out) but it has changed how I buy things, and I've definitely started making substitutions. I make coffee at home everyday, with coffee from the Co-op."
The blog also has resources for his viewers, books on his reading list, sites he's found useful. Pollan's book is not to be found, but I have no doubt the cultural impact of that tomb is somewhere in the pixels on that page.
[via Gothamist]
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