The tyranny of choice

I wasn't going to use that title...
I remember it from my Political Science professor whose second stint as a dad was about 20 years later after his first child. He pointed out that choosing dipers back then was easy and involved about 2 types. Today the choices are limitless, especially if you consider online ordering. And of course you want to make the right choice for your child so any choice involving something precious to you will cause a whole lot of anxiety.

I didn't realize this until I decided to pay attention to what I eat and what I buy. I wanted to do what was best for the planet. I didn't realize it would get so complicated.
While trying to decide on a farm-raised, grass fed meat - which one is better. Whole Foods has a chart and a ranking system which starts at 1 and goes to about 6 depending on how animal was treated but what does that mean?! Is one better than the usual factory farm or about the same? The meat is sometimes 7 times the expense than the grocery store - so how much better is this flesh anyways? In addition to deciding on factory farmed vs. responsibly farmed there is now a scale - how responsibly farmed do you want your animal to be? And if you add to the mix terms that mean nothing in terms of FDA standards - like "free range" or "natural" you are stuck in a perpetual dilemma of possibly making the wrong choice.
By offering so many choices Whole Foods is using a used car salesman technique - present as many choices as possible to confuse and exhaust the customer. After a while you just buy stuff 'cause it's from Whole Foods...
I am always amused by the amount of non-hybrid SUVs in the parking lot. It's like people bought this illusion that they are "helping" by shopping at Whole Foods. And while the store peddles Burt's Bees made by Clorox and icecreams made by Unilever, and some of the worst pet food around under the Paul Newman's brand - the warm glow of their green logo is suppose to make us feel better.
And for a while it was enough for me. But after realizing that Organic and Family Farmed has become big business terms (mainly through Omnivore's Dilemma) I am not sure anymore. I guess I can go to Trader Joe's but isn't it just the same but smaller and cheaper version with a gimmick and Hawaiian shirts?

All these stores and businesses started out trying to change the consumer world through better business practices and in return ended up being swallowed up by the system and spat out as just another product. Burt's Bees - started by hippies, now owned by Clorox. Ben and Jerry's - now owned by Unilever. Whole Foods - now so big it resembles organic Walmart rather then a wholesome alternative. Are all businesses who strive to change our consumer habits bound to just be absorbed into the big business quick sand? There are hopeful reminders that it doesn't have to be like that - Organic Valley milk that said no to Walmart.
But how many are there, how many can withstand the pressure of assimilation due to demand or financial needs?

And then again, what do you choose? Do you trust the label? Do you know what you are buying and is it really better for the environment? And how much research can you really do? How much time you have to sift through hundreds of labels with thousands of claims?
I am hoping to analyse energy use in the next post. I am hoping to figure out what is better for our planet, what requires more energy what requires less. What is the true cost of that meal you making for dinner. It might take me a while and will most likely be a running research project.
A great breakdown of some of the pieces in the study about farmland and reducing CO2 emissions. As well as how to turn a science study into propaganda... 
http://veganskeptic.blogspot.com/2010/11/being-vegan-is-worse-for-environment.html