John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, and Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore's Dilemma” and professor of journalism at UC Berkeley, shared the stage at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. I flew out for the event, and will cover points raised in this short blog posting and also in future issues of Vegetarian Organic Life.

Pollan is best known for his bestselling book, in which he slammed Whole Foods Market. Pollan and Mackey have been debating points raised in the book in a series of online arguments and counterarguments, which began with a persuasive “Open Letter” by Mackey.

Though last night’s public encounter symbolizes the culmination of the ongoing debate since the publication of “The Omnivore's Dilemma,” it also marks the birth of a new "beyond organic" food movement.

Mackey's multimedia presentation, called "The Past, Present, and Future of Food," was captivating, persuasive and powerful. He gave a brief history of food (starting with hunting and gathering) to the present. Mackey offered his insightful perspective of where we are and where we are headed.

It was also newsworthy: Mackey announced several new programs that Whole Foods is adopting and implementing in an effort to take a more proactive approach in social and ethical issues, as well as in the quality of food available to consumers (see post below).

Mackey also said we are now at a tipping point. The organic industry faces a challenge because the companies that have made money with the industrial food production system won't want to give up their power.

Mackey believes the agent of change will be what he calls “conscious capitalism.”

Mackey also advocates change in Washington. The first step: Stop government subsidies of agribusinesses. He believes that in 20 years feed lots could be illegal.

Mackey's overarching perspective is that organic foods in general and organic standards in particular are inadequate. We need to go beyond organic.

He said that the problem with our current industrial food is that it's designed to maximize quantity -- often at the expense of quality.

Change is coming, and it will be driven by shoppers. This is where conscious capitalism comes in. We need to educate ourselves and eat with intelligence and education. (For example, in our desire to cut food costs, we should think in terms of eating seasonal organic foods, rather than saving money with non-organic.)

(I will cover his initiatives and ideas in much greater detail in the upcoming issue of my Vegetarian Organic Life newsletter.)