--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So much about life in a global economy…" description: "\"“So much about life in a global economy feels as though it has passed beyond the individual’s control—what happens to our jobs, to the prices at the ga..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/michael-pollan-408_consumerism_so-much-about-life-in-a-global-economy-f_2125475.jpg" --- # So much about life in a global economy feels as though it… ![“So much about life in a global economy feels as though it has passed beyond the individual’s control—what happens to our jobs, to the prices at the gas station, to the vote in the legislature. But somehow food still feels a little different. We can still decide, every day, what we’re going to put…” quote by Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/michael-pollan-408_consumerism_so-much-about-life-in-a-global-economy-f_2125475.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/michael-pollan-408_consumerism_so-much-about-life-in-a-global-economy-f_2125475.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/michael-pollan-408_consumerism_so-much-about-life-in-a-global-economy-f_2125475.jpg) > ““So much about life in a global economy feels as though it has passed beyond the individual’s control—what happens to our jobs, to the prices at the gas station, to the vote in the legislature. But somehow food still feels a little different. We can still decide, every day, what we’re going to put into our bodies, what sort of food chain we want to participate in. We can, in other words, reject the industrial omelet on offer and decide to eat another.”” [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Individual food choices remain a form of resistance against large‑scale economic forces. **In simple terms:** Food choices are personal power. Key Takeaway Choose food that aligns with your values. Themes food sovereignty economics personal agency resistance Mood hopeful empowering thoughtful Type personal political When to use this quote - grocery shopping - meal planning - community gardens Key Concepts sustainability consumer choice industrial food systems ethical eating Questions to Reflect On - What food choices reflect your values? - How can you influence the food system locally? A Different Perspective Food decisions can counteract systemic pressures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consumerism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumerism/) [Decide Eat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decide-eat-2576497/) [Different Decide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-decide-4357252/) [Every day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-day/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Food chain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food-chain/) [Food Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food-feels-4357251/) [Gas station](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gas-station/) [Global economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/global-economy/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) ## Related quotes > [For dinner, I like to have a protein and veggies again. But because of my ulcerative colitis, really healthy foods are hard on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katelyn-ohashi/for-dinner-i-like-to-have-a-protein-and-veggies-again-but-because-of/) [Katelyn Ohashi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katelyn-ohashi/) > [“Much of our food system depends on our not knowing much about it, beyond the price disclosed by the checkout scanner; cheapness and ignorance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/much-of-our-food-system-depends-on-our-not-knowing-much-about-it/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [The sheer novelty and glamor of the Western diet, with its seventeen thousand new food products every year and the marketing power - thirty-two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/the-sheer-novelty-and-glamor-of-the-western-diet-with-its-seventeen/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Just how destructive does a culinary preference have to be before we decide to eat something else? If contributing to the suffering of billions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/just-how-destructive-does-a-culinary-preference-have-to-be-before-we/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I am a big believer in taking responsibility for your actions. I tell my kids every day to 'own it' - 'it' being whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-peterson/i-am-a-big-believer-in-taking-responsibility-for-your-actions-i-tell/) [Gunnar Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-peterson/) > [Dont wait until you're hungry to decide what to eat. That's when all the mistakes happen. Plan your healthy meals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-jenkins/dont-wait-until-you-re-hungry-to-decide-what-to-eat-that-s-when-all/) [Jeanette Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-jenkins/) > [They may have salt, sugar, and fat on their side, but we, ultimately, have the power to make choices. After all, we decide what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moss/they-may-have-salt-sugar-and-fat-on-their-side-but-we-ultimately-have/) [Michael Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moss/) > [The exposure from 'Iron Chef' has been helpful, but at the end of the day your product and your service determine whether you get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-symon/the-exposure-from-iron-chef-has-been-helpful-but-at-the-end-of-the/) [Michael Symon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-symon/) > [“When you are not hungry and decide to eat, choose a food that you ate that day when you were hungry. Be aware of:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geneen-roth/when-you-are-not-hungry-and-decide-to-eat-choose-a-food-that-you-ate/) [Geneen Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geneen-roth/) > [“The fact that the nutritional quality of a given food (and of that food's food) can vary not just in degree but in kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/the-fact-that-the-nutritional-quality-of-a-given-food-and-of-that/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Originally, the atoms of carbon from which we're made were floating in the air, part of a carbon dioxide molecule. The only way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/originally-the-atoms-of-carbon-from-which-we-re-made-were-floating-in/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“For an American like me, growing up linked to a very different food chain, yet one that is also rooted in a field of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/for-an-american-like-me-growing-up-linked-to-a-very-different-food/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [If we're eating industrially, if we're letting large corporations, fast food chains, cook our food, we're going to have a huge, industrialized, monoculture agriculture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/if-we-re-eating-industrially-if-we-re-letting-large-corporations-fast/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“Depending on how we spend them, our food dollars can either go to support a food industry devoted to quantity and convenience and “value”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/depending-on-how-we-spend-them-our-food-dollars-can-either-go-to/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [We now eat at the end of a very long and opaque food chain. Food comes to us ready-made in packages that obscure as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/we-now-eat-at-the-end-of-a-very-long-and-opaque-food-chain-food-comes/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) ## More by Michael Pollan > [“In the same way that the picturesque designers were always careful to include some reminder of our mortality in their gardens -- a ruin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/in-the-same-way-that-the-picturesque-designers-were-always-careful-to/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [My hope is that if people have the knowledge, and if they actually see where their food comes from and have access to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/my-hope-is-that-if-people-have-the-knowledge-and-if-they-actually-see/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [The problem is that we let special-occasion food become everyday food. That goes for soda and french fries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/the-problem-is-that-we-let-special-occasion-food-become-everyday-food/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Every peasant cuisine has incredible ingenious tricks for getting a lot of nutrition out of a small amount of ingredients. There are people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/every-peasant-cuisine-has-incredible-ingenious-tricks-for-getting-a/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“In ancient Greece, the word for “cook,” “butcher,” and “priest” was the same—mageiros—and the word shares an etymological root with “magic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/in-ancient-greece-the-word-for-cook-butcher-and-priest-was-the-same/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [In the end I'm still a writer. I'm still a journalist, and my first responsibility is to my readers. That's where I have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/in-the-end-i-m-still-a-writer-i-m-still-a-journalist-and-my-first/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Seeds have the power to preserve species, to enhance cultural as well as genetic diversity, to counter economic monopoly and to check the advance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/seeds-have-the-power-to-preserve-species-to-enhance-cultural-as-well/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“The bubble logic driving tulipomania has since acquired a name: “the greater fool theory.” Although by any conventional measure it is folly to pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/the-bubble-logic-driving-tulipomania-has-since-acquired-a-name-the/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“Of the seven deadly sins, surely it is pride that most afflicts the gardener.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/of-the-seven-deadly-sins-surely-it-is-pride-that-most-afflicts-the/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Growing corn, which from a biological perspective had always been a process of capturing sunlight to turn into food, has in no small measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/growing-corn-which-from-a-biological-perspective-had-always-been-a/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Eat with consciousness. When you eat with consciousness, and you know what you're eating, and you eat it in full appreciation of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/eat-with-consciousness-when-you-eat-with-consciousness-and-you-know/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [This is part of human nature, the desire to change consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/this-is-part-of-human-nature-the-desire-to-change-consciousness/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“...whenever I hear people say clean food is expensive, I tell them it's actually the cheapest food you can buy. That always gets their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/whenever-i-hear-people-say-clean-food-is-expensive-i-tell-them-it-s/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“Imagine if we had a food system that actually produced wholesome food. Imagine if it produced that food in a way that restored the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/imagine-if-we-had-a-food-system-that-actually-produced-wholesome-food/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“CONSULT YOUR GUT.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/consult-your-gut/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) [Explore all 584 Michael Pollan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) ## More Consumerism quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [if we center our lives on BMWs, RVs, VCRs, PCs and the other acronyms of consumerism, we cannot expect our children to do otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnetta-b-cole/if-we-center-our-lives-on-bmws-rvs-vcrs-pcs-and-the-other-acronyms-of/) [Johnnetta B. Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnnetta-b-cole/) > [“Salesmanship is usually the art of making it the prospect’s problem, the salesperson’s need or desire to earn money.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/salesmanship-is-usually-the-art-of-making-it-the-prospect-s-problem/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [A lot of times, my work is looked at very much on the surface. It's very easy to just want to put something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-koons/a-lot-of-times-my-work-is-looked-at-very-much-on-the-surface-it-s/) [Jeff Koons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-koons/) > [I think that consumerism is intrinsically a pretty flawed social system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-elkington/i-think-that-consumerism-is-intrinsically-a-pretty-flawed-social/) [John Elkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-elkington/) > [America always put forth this phony melting pot theory, but it's a reality now. They couldn't accomplish the melting pot economically; they couldn't accomplish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-means/america-always-put-forth-this-phony-melting-pot-theory-but-it-s-a/) [Russell Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-means/) > [“Fifty years ago, people went without clothes in order to eat. Today, people gladly go without food in order to buy clothes. And they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-dumontais/fifty-years-ago-people-went-without-clothes-in-order-to-eat-today/) [Sinclair Dumontais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-dumontais/) > [Consumer wants can have bizarre, frivolous, or even immoral origins, and an admirable case can still be made for a society that seeks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/consumer-wants-can-have-bizarre-frivolous-or-even-immoral-origins-and/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“In my view, dissatisfaction is implicit in the fabric of consumerism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-bruno/in-my-view-dissatisfaction-is-implicit-in-the-fabric-of-consumerism/) [Dave Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-bruno/) > [Just when you thought multi-nationals and crazed consumerism were too big to fight, along comes Naomi Klein with facts, spirit, and news of successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/just-when-you-thought-multi-nationals-and-crazed-consumerism-were-too/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Logograms pose a more difficult question. An increasing number of persons and institutions, from archy and mehitabel to PostScript and TrueType, come to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/logograms-pose-a-more-difficult-question-an-increasing-number-of/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [One of the problems with industrialism is that it's based on the premise of more and more. It has to keep expanding to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dora-russell/one-of-the-problems-with-industrialism-is-that-it-s-based-on-the/) [Dora Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dora-russell/) > [Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/never-buy-what-you-do-not-want-because-it-is-cheap-it-will-be-dear-to/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The pharma pricing system was not built on the idea of consumer engagement. It was built... on market efficiencies. It was not built on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-bresch/the-pharma-pricing-system-was-not-built-on-the-idea-of-consumer/) [Heather Bresch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-bresch/) > [“We consumer and become exactly what we create. In all times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/we-consumer-and-become-exactly-what-we-create-in-all-times/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) [Browse all 628 Consumerism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumerism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So much about life in a global economy feels as though it has passed beyond the individual’s control—what happens to our jobs, to the prices at the gas station, to the vote in the legislature. But somehow food still feels a little different. 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