Already one pseudo-traditional development in Florida is bragging (?!) about including an "upscale" wal-mart. And now, organics. Well, organic, to me, isn't the point. My wife and I look for organic produce when we have to shop at supermarkets and the like because the other stuff is just inedible. But Rod's point, that the real trick is to buy local, now becomes clear. Any label, including of course "organic" can be reduced to a set of official criteria that can be manipulated and/or operationalized as part of the same mass marketing system that puts out all the other rubbish — much of it quite expensive and some of it capable of appearing "upscale."

With food as with all else, "buy local" really does seem to be the key. I know some reject this as producing a boring diet, but I think there is a clear alternative — go to the local ethnic markets, not the chain.