What Happened to Good Food?

Thanks to Chicken Little, the Boy Who Cried Wolf and an unending list of recent imitators, it is a tough sell for authors who want to grab attention for the trend they are writing about by forewarning that the end is nigh—for work, science, religion, nature, the atmosphere, capitalism, liberalism, socialism or whatever.

With years of down-home farm experiences in Michigan, Quebec and Ontario to draw on, and with home-style storytelling skills developed as a founding editor of Harrowsmith, veteran agricultural journalist and award-winning environment writer Thomas Pawlick is game to try out the “end-of” thesis on food.

Pawlick tends to use “the end of food” as a literary device, an all-purpose putdown and grab-bag for a host of fiendish farm and food fiascoes, ranging from soil degradation to genetic engineering to mad cow disease. However, he spells out three specific trends that herald an apocalyptic end for food. The declining taste and nutrient...