Organic at Wal Mart

The New Yorker has a good wrap up of the latest on the organic food biz.  The big news is that Wal-Mart is going to provide organic choices to its customers, no doubt seriously changing the economics of organic food production.  See articles at Boston.Com, the New York Times, and BBC. But, some wonder about the impact on producers and on consumers.  Already, demand for organic food has led to the mega-organic farming operations, such as Earthbound Farms. Is food from these large organic operations any "better" than non-organic produced food?  My personal view is that the farming methods have to be better in order to meet the organic standards, so our environment and the earth remain in better conditions. That alone is worth buying organic.   However, I believe that the best source of our food is from local farmers who, ideally, are producing organic or near organic meat, vegetables. The Eat Well Guide is a quick way to find local suppliers. See this interview in the San Francisco Chronicle with Michael Pollan about supporting local agriculture.   I look forward to reading Michael Pollan's new book on sustainable farming, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, discussed in the New Yorker article and reviewed at the New York Times.  Catherine Price visits Michael Pollan at home, and discovers that his refrigerator matches up with what he says.