Pollan Summary

Big Organic is an article that basically describes the ongoing wonder of what is truly organic when it comes to the products we buy at the store. Pollan first starts off by comparing labels of products from Whole Foods and describes shopping there as a literal experience. He states that his eggs were from "cage free vegetarian hens" and that his organic broiler even had a name "Rosie". Then he states that he found milks competing with each other about which one is more organic. The first milk label said that the milk is ultrapasteurized which extends shelf life of the product, the second milk label said that the milk had gone through normal pasteurization methods making it more organic than the last one, and the third milk label said it was not pasteurized at all and was 100% organic. This makes Pollan wonder what is actually organic.

The next part of the article is about how even if a company promotes a clean and healthy environment, does not mean that they actually help they environment. Pollan gives the example of a patch of grass covered in garbage. Pollan then describes that it is impossible for an industry such as whole foods to maintain the simple and agricultural foundation on which it was built while industrializing to mass produce their organic products. This issue is supplemented by the high demand for fresh, healthy, food at low prices. He realizes that what is on the label may not be true, but it's purpose is to give him the inspiration to imagine where he wants his food to come from, which makes him more willing to purchase that product.