As usual, I’ve been reading. Today’s themes seem to be dystopian society, middle class guilt, and food.

Over my breakfast of peace-supporting cereal and organic milk, I read this article from the Cal Monthly. I was annoyed. Eating is too a political act, although not the only one. People need to eat to vote. And while I love to make fun of extremists as much as the next person, for the most part extreme food people tend to be harmless.

I was particularly ripe to be irritated, having seen this article in Sunday’s paper. The article did not make clear whether the actual process of making cheese produces the nasty stuff that has poisoned the wells or if it was a problem created by industrial cleaners alone. I want to know if I’m killing the world with more than cow farts by eating cheese. I may not have the fortitude to live a cheeseless existence, but I’d rather not live in denial of the harm that hunk of cheddar may be causing.

All of which seemed even more important after reading Feed. The book pushes our consumerist and consuming culture to its logical extreme. The environment is failing to the point that skin lesions are transformed by the corporate culture into a fashion statement. Advertising goes directly to people’s brains. All experience is filtered through embedded media. It made me want to go outside and pick a tomato.