So if you've read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, you'll understand just how much of our culture is based on corn. Most of the meat on your table is corn fed (with dramatic environmental and health consequences) along with the fact that processed food is filled with processed corn. It's a disturbing fact, which leads to the importance of eating sustainably.

This past weekend I was struck by the notion that maybe we need to drink sustainably too. Bottled water becoming passe is the new trend at upscale restaurants and, after visiting the Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg, TN, I was struck by how the language Pollan used to describe food could also be applied to booze.

Pollan used the term "supermarket pastoral" to describe how many companies, mostly organics, use very wholesome images and language to make their products seem natural, sustainable and healthy when they might not be. Similarly, the pastoral images, folksy tone and emphasis on tradition tried to portray Jack Daniel's as a product that was associated with a small time distillery that was made in harmony with nature.

In fact they were trucking in #2 corn from over 10 states listed by my tour guide in order to feed the gigantic needs of a company that was rapidly scaling up production to meet overseas demand. Yes, there are corners you can't cut such as barrel aging and fermentation, but the scale and rate at which they were producing their booze was on an industrial scale.

Just goes to show the need to be suspicious of any marketing.

And as a marketing major, I should have known that.