Factory farming is the greatest achievement in the history of man

Seriously: Being able to feed more people for less money with less effort expended than at any point in the history of the planet is an incontrovertibly good thing. I was once again reminded of this fact by a post over at The Atlantic’s food blog about some students at my alma mater who tried to “eat sustainably” for a semester. A longish excerpt:

At one point, in a desperate effort to feed his ample (6’2″, 200 lb) frame a square meal, Will resorted to giving “the dollar menu at McDonalds a try.” He wolfed two McDoubles (whatever the hell those are) and an order of fries, and then sheepishly admitted that he’d just consumed “the most processed food you can find.” (Will eventually found redemption in a coffeehouse where he not only relaxed in a chair made from hay bales but was able to score a banana, cup of joe, and “a huge blueberry muffin” for under six bucks.)

Michael resisted the fast-food route (although he plugged Chipotle), but admitted that eating organic and local was a chore and not a “cheap diet.” After shopping at both Whole Foods and Harris Teeter he quickly realized that he “personally cannot afford to eat their products on a habitual basis.” All in all he deemed the organic option “just too expensive for the average college student.” Like other students, though, he ultimately deemed the expenditure worth the trouble: “I think in the long run, in terms of health and environmental sustainability, it will be worth it.” To which we can only say: good for Michael.

But does everyone see it this way? Can everyone see it this way? As these refreshingly candid blog entries strongly suggest, a sustainable diet will never go mainstream if costs do not compete with cheap cafeteria crap. As I read these entries, I found myself having a hard time escaping the suspicion that a sustainable diet, however defined, will eventually divide eaters into culinary haves and have nots rather than revolutionize–much less democratize–the way we eat. Of course this will be a shame. But for now I can’t see it any other way.

If undergrads aren’t able to pull this off in a satisfactory manner, I can’t imagine trying to feed a family of four on a lower middle class income the same way. “Sustainability” is something that the upper-middle class should feel free to indulge itself in without trying to guilt the rest of us into living a lifestyle beyond our means or forcing poor people to give up meat.