Food, Etc...

I've been thinking a lot lately about the way I choose to eat.  I know I'm not the only one.  It seems to be on everyone's mind.  We're all watching movies like Food, Inc. and reading books like The Omnivore's Dilemma or Eating Animals.  We're hearing things on Oprah, we're seeing new labels in the supermarket.  There is definitely a movement going on right now, a heightened awareness, a call to action.

There are very good, compelling arguments on all sides of the fence.  And there is a complex web of components involved in all of these decisions.  So I'm doing what I do.  I'm reading, I'm researching.  I'm trying to hear from all sides: from the environmentalists, from the capitalists, from the biotechnologists, from the family farmers, from the factory farmers, from the seed companies, from the ranchers, from the meat-packers, from the op-ed writers, from the social-justicers, from the states-rightsers, from the free-traders, from the fair-traders, from the activists, from the clean-fooders, the vegans, the vegetarians, the omnivores, the carnivores.  Wow, there is just so much to take in.

I've always looked at my food choices in an individual way.  I think about the way the choice affects me.  How will eating this make me feel?  How will it help or hurt my body?  Will it make me skinny, will it make me fat?  Will it give me energy or slow me down?  Will it taste good?  Will it be convenient?  I'm suddenly realizing that when I choose what to eat, a lot more is affected than just me.  There is a very intricate infrastructure at play here, and every choice I make, every dollar I spend on food, is a vote in the way that infrastructure is shaped.  And the shape of that infrastructure, that's another thing that affects me and (someday) my children.  I want to know what I'm voting for.  I want to choose well.

I'm still researching and reading and trying to figure all this out, to wrap my head around it.  I'm not there yet.  Here are the things I'm trying to keep in mind as I explore the way I think about food.

1. What do I believe?  About bio-engineering, about big business, about government intervention in the market place, about the farming way of life, etc...  Our choices are largely determined by our beliefs.  I need to get this straight.
2. Where can I get the facts?  It seems like there's a lot of propaganda out there, and every person peddling it has some agenda in mind that is largely driven by their beliefs.  There has to be some way to dig an actionable truth out from underneath all that manure.
3. What is the healthiest way to live?  And healthy in a holistic sense, as in good for me as an individual and for the world at large.  What choices will both feed by body well and help create the world I want my kids to grow up in?
4. What is achievable for me?  As much as the idea of eschewing all animal products and living in some organic farming collective sounds appealing (especially after ready aforesaid books and watching aforesaid films), that's just not a very realistic option for me.  I have only so much time, knowledge, energy, money.  So what steps can I practically take to bring my life more in line with where I want it to be?  

So what are you thinking, learning, doing about this?  Where do you get your information?  I'd appreciate any good book, article, or blog recommendations.  What about practical applications?  What are you trying?  What works?  What doesn't?  How much does all of this really matter?