What does this say about people's perception of quality, though? Sure, you can buy cheap value-brand staples that are probably chock full of preservatives and c

What does this say about people's perception of quality, though? Sure, you can buy cheap value-brand staples that are probably chock full of preservatives and chemicals that drive down the cost of food on an industrial scale. You can also buy furniture from Wal-Mart that's made compressed sawdust, a binding agent and a thin coat of paint. Both purchases will be relatively cheap, but I wouldn't expect anything more than minimal quality from either. Over the last 10 years, I've seen a relative explosion of organic and locally-grown food at mainstream grocery stores. I haven't lived in particularly liberal areas, so I think it's safe to say that these are representative of a growing trend of consumer consciousness. People seem to give a damn what their money is really buying in a way that they didn't 20 years ago, for instance. Simple economics suggests that labor will expand to fill this niche, and in doing so, that expansion is going to run counter to the author's main point that efficiency is inexorably shrinking the workforce. I'm not saying this is wrong, but I'm curious what this niche market for higher-quality, locally manufactured/grown goods means for the trend the author is trying to forecast.