Balancing Multiple Perspectives for Collaborative Food Decision-Making

First paragraph: Recently a co-worker asked me what I thought about Mayor Bloomberg's initiative to limit the size of soft drinks sold in New York City, a topic I had neither followed closely nor analyzed. Although I hadn't formulated an opinion on public policies on drink size, it struck me that this issue presented interesting and fundamental questions about community decisions that potentially affect us all. This particular soft drink policy is an example of how large issues of community concern seem to end up as conflict over single aspects. To me the big question is when differences in views and different interests are involved, how do we honor multiple perspectives in collaborative decision-making? Can we find ways to blend and balance diverse perspectives as we strive to create a world we desire? I think that we must think about what are the right questions; that is in this particular case, what are the most central or transformative questions of our day regarding food systems for health and well-being?