Perhaps Pollan's perspective is a bit elitist. But, I didn't find it offensive... perhaps because he is so aware of the vast continuum of choices to be made and how we all make them to the best of our ability and resources. He does has a clearer recognition of the false economy of trying to eat on the cheap. And not just in terms of money, but in terms of other resources required to prepare and consume a meal: time and attention to planning, shopping, cooking, and just plain enjoying food.

For many people, most of those activities have a lower priority than a good quality of life requires. That doesn't mean people are necessarily stupid or lazy, just that they haven't yet had the personal epiphany that makes one change one's habits. Change is not easy, even for someone (like me) who really loves food, and is concerned about health and eating well. Social pressures and the structures in place work against us, just as Pollan so eloquently describes. And you can't realistically hold people responsible for insights that they haven't yet had, even if you have yourself. Tho' there's nothing wrong with sharing those insights... as long as one doesn't presume to insist that they are proper for everyone else. (I agree with bookseller about not needing anymore religion.)

So, in the interest of sharing my own food-related insights with others, please feel free to take what you like and leave the rest...

I live with a vegetarian, but I can't eat wheat or dairy. We now shop at the supermarket every other week instead of every week, in order to simplify time and budgeting issues, and shop at the health food store, and other places the weeks in between. Ideally, shopping for what you need each day makes the most sense in many ways, but our lives don't permit that luxury. This works for us.

Vegetarianism does not work for me, perhaps because of my ancestry, which can also cause problems with digesting wheat, dairy, and some other foods... something that I was not aware of until they became the main ingredients of my diet and caused me all manner of pain and grievance, including a very serious anemia. [No responses, please, about balancing foods properly; that was not the problem. And wheat is a questionable food for many people, given the phytates and the increasing prevalence of insulin-resistance.]

Nor does soy make a good food for me, at least not after I tried to compensate for eliminating both wheat and dairy by consuming it in many forms. And peanuts, best to leave those alone, too. Having eliminated both, I rarely have stomach aches now.

My favorite breakfast is the kind of thing most people eat for dinner: some kind of meat, usually beef (braised short ribs are best) with vegetables, and rice or grits or polenta. Other choices are ground-beef (organic if possible) in tomato sauce with brown rice penne. Something hearty that I heat up at work while other people are having a bagel and coffee.

Lunches are a bit more typical, often involving some kind of alternative bread, most often a wheat-free, dairy-free bagel from Kinnikinnick, with tuna or egg salad or smoked salmon. I also try to eat sardines once or twice a week (w/ skin & bones, in olive oil), usually in soup, e.g., tomato rice, or vegetable.

Dinner is usually lighter, perhaps a brown-rice pasta with eggs poached in the same water with the pasta, and stirred into a tomato sauce. (One of the few ways to get anything with a creamy texture, given my dairy restriction.) I usually buy Eggland's Best, because buying any less expensive eggs makes no sense to me. Sometimes I buy more expensive eggs, and agree with Pollan that the best eggs are worth every penny. And the other commenter who said they would go down in price if more people demanded them is right, too.

I also try to consume a decent size piece of (dairy-free) dark chocolate every day, and at least a banana, as well as a few fig bars, and nuts. I eat less fresh fruit than I used to, and it doesn't seem to be a problem, despite the government's food pyramid (which doesn't work for me anyway).

It's taken me a few years to put all of the pieces together: what I can't eat, what I can, where I can possibly find foods that I can eat (not as difficult now as at the beginning), that I cannot just pick up any old thing on the go, and that I have to cook most of my food myself (usually in batches, which I freeze in smaller containers for breakfast). I had no choice about making these changes. It was a matter of choosing life or a slow death. (And I had the advice of alternative health practitioners, for which I paid out of pocket--instead of many things most women buy-- if I'd had to rely on mainstream medical advice, I might not be here.)

Along with market forces, another way to effect change is to exchange information with one another. Thank the gods, we no longer have to rely on the traditional media to do that for us. Do you have any idea how many knitting blogs have grown up over the last few years? Just imagine if there were a flood of blogs devoted to food, but more polite than the political blogs. Even if blogs are still only a small part of the big picture, they have a lot of power, and can force market and political changes of their own. So, get out there and start a food blog if you don't already have one. Obviously, if you're commenting on this article, or even just reading it, this is an important topic to you.

(Unfortunately, you'll have to start one elsewhere, since Salon is no longer starting up new ones... sigh...)