What Michael Pollan Has Been Up To Lately
Michael Pollan's been making some pretty big waves lately—in the media, at colleges, with farmers, and little tots. Time to check in on what he's been up to and what it all says about the state of green food today.
Drama at Two Universities
In early October, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo downgraded a scheduled Pollan lecture because it received pressure from David E. Wood, a major university donor who also happens to be chairman of the mega-beef producer, Harris Ranch Beef.Wood complained in a letter to the university saying that the lecture gave Pollan "an unchallenged forum to promote his stand on conventional agricultural practices." In response to the pressure, Cal Poly turned the solo lecture into a panel event.
Cal Poly wasn't the only university with Pollan hubbub—earlier this summer it was Washington State University. WSU chose Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma as the book of choice for the all freshmen common reading program. Then, citing budget woes (even though 4,000 books had already been purchased) the university chose to suspend the program. However, some sources said it just wasn't so and that the university had caved in to political pressure.
Then, Bill Marler, a WSU alum and personal injury lawyer specializing in foodborne illness cases stepped in with an offer to cover the costs to keep the Pollan read-a-thon on. With cash at the ready, the university accepted the offer and Pollan is now set to speak at the school in January (though he's still doubtful that money was the true issue at play).
The Hummer Comment
While talking at the recent Poptech conference on the link between eating and climate change, Pollan said, "a vegan in a Hummer has a lighter carbon footprint than a beef eater in a Prius." Turns out this statement might not be totally accurate and there were plenty of people ready to jump up and offer their opinion on the matter.
Not All Farmers Are Pollan Fans
Blake Hurst, a Missouri farmer and Farm Bureau official wrote a scathing critique of Pollan in an article published by the American Enterprise Institute titled, "The Omnivore's Delusion." Over in Wisconsin, many farmers (some wearing green t-shirts that said "In Defense of Farmers") protested Pollan at a recent talk at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
[Image: amazon.com]
But More Kids Might Be
But in addition to all this, he might be building a new fan base with the little ones. A young reader's edition of The Omnivore's Dilemma was published in October called, The Omnivore's Dilemma for Kids: The Secrets Behind What You Eat. The book, which is aimed at middle and high schoolers, is shorter than the original, but includes photographs, graphs, charts, and other visuals.
What This All Means
Instead of debating the issues of academic freedom at Cal Poly and Washington State University and whether Pollan will ever be buddy-buddy with industrial corn
and soy farmers, let's focus on the dialogue here.
It means that what started as a small movement of people, often characterized as "impractical elitists," has become important enough to garner widespread attention. Before, the state of our food system was considered the norm and those who wanted to change it were buttonholed as ideological or out-of-touch. Now that ag-corporations are sitting up, taking notice, and feeling the need to put pressure on
universities, we should all take that as a sign that this movement is going somewhere.
It's about time for other strong voices (and not just Pollan's) to step up and speak out. Both bloggers and scientists are getting involved, investigating Pollan's statements (and their readers are listening). As for the disapproving farmers, I say the more people at the table interested in contributing to the wider discussion, the better.
And that includes kids. Growing up conscious of what you're eating and aware of what it takes to feed the world is not a bad thing.
The future of food should not be elitist or class-based, but in many cases, it still is. Everyone should have access to healthy, sustainable food wherever they live. It's about time for other strong voices to step up and speak out.
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13 Comments:
its not just about access to healthy sustainable food. there needs to be discussion on how to teach people to cook well.
There was an episode of Oprah (mom was watching it) where the mother appears to have the resources (money/time) and opportunity (access to supermarkets etc) to buy healthy food (lets just ignore the organic/sustainable part for now). So they show her buying broccoli at the supermarket and then she steams it for dinner and adds a mountain of Cheese-whiz on top. She is proud that she served vegetables to her son. So how is it any better if she bought it at a farmer's market? To be honest, i was really grossed out by the dish and left the room.
asianempress at 5:31PM on 11/04/09
healthy, sustainable and a-f-f-o-r-d-a-b-l-e.
QueenAlli at 7:07PM on 11/04/09
The best news in this is that Pollan's having enough of an effect for Harris Ranch Beef to feel they need to squelch him.
lemonfair at 7:19PM on 11/04/09
Stinks that colleges and universities, where you're supposed to be exposed to things that are absent the US Corporate Stamp of Approval are caving to pressure from someone with their pants in a wad.
chanterelle at 8:32PM on 11/04/09
@ lemonfair - agreed. If Mr. Wood had nothing to hide, he wouldn't have bothered to make a fuss.
@chanterelle - so true. it seems nothing is untouched by corporate interests.
yayfood at 10:29PM on 11/04/09
oh dear, my fellow wisconsinites.... what were you thinking?! *tear
obviously they didn't understand that pollan is against CORPORATION farms, not the small, local dairy farmer.
downhillguru at 4:34AM on 11/05/09
Your local dairy farmer is most likely a corporation. Most family farms are held as corporations now. Why? inheritance taxes. The reason that many have gone under is the family can't afford to pay taxes on an inheritance based on a hundred acres of land and the thousands of dollars of infrastructure needed to run a "family farm". Even more so if you have a few hundred cattle grazing. Corporations are not evil, they are essential.
As for Harris Ranch's threat to drop contributions based on their feelings to Mr Pollan. He was a paid speaker. He was not donating time. Would you want your donations used to pay for speakers whose views are in opposition to your business interests or personal interests? I would do the same thing. It is amazing that you are offended a corporation would refuse to support paid speakers that portray them as evil. You call it censorship, but Mr. Pollan's supporters can replace the funds to the college if they view the message as important.
Most scientific studies show that fully a third of the world will starve with the current state of sustainable agriculture. There is a middle ground that must be reached to make everyone happy and healthy, panels can discuss and learn, individual rants only feed polarizing views.
Meat guy at 9:33AM on 11/05/09
this is so wrong, but when i saw that picture of him, the first thing that popped into my mind was "that guy needs to eat a sandwich." a healthy, sustainable sandwich, maybe, but a sandwich nonetheless.
carriebwc at 9:37AM on 11/05/09
I buy food at the local farmers market as well as the corporate supermarkets. When we have local farmers markets in every neighborhood in the country, and something other than a 7-11 as the market of choice in the poorer neighborhoods, then we will be doing the right thing in our country. Not everyone is smart about what they put in their mouth on a daily basis. But if we make choices that are good for not only ourselves but our planet, then perhaps our grandchildren will not be in the same mess we are in now.
queenbleu at 10:16AM on 11/05/09
Hmm I beg to differ, my meat-eating friend. Though I now live outside the United States, I could name you at least 10 of my friends whose families still operate family farms. Gradually, they are being put out of business due to buyouts by corporation farms. And when I say put out of business I mean they are put OUT of business; not being managed by a corporation.
And yes, they are evil. CAFO's? Are you kidding? Those aren't evil? Have you blatantly ignored the negative impact these cattle-cities have on the environment? Come on now.
Thankfully there's a burgeoning movement to return to the as you put it in quotes, "family farm." I assure you, they do exist.
Individuals can do much to educate those around them.
downhillguru at 12:53AM on 11/06/09
Buy outs? Like they do not feel they can live on the small profits and meager returns and sell out? Or children who have been to college and decided life off the farm is more personally and financially rewarding to them? The ones near cities where it is more profitable to sell the farm to make a subdivision of people who wonder where the farm went? That is lifestyle choice. Sorry, I know my family and friends as well. Former dairy and vegetable farmers who decided the long hard hours were no longer of interest, and rented the land to others to work or sold it to developers for massive profits unachievable in a lifetime of farming. Farming is not easy, it is long, hard, time consuming work, very few are willing to do it.
Most smart farmers incorporate the business side, yes the Family owns the land, but they use a corporate structure to protect themselves financially, the farm corporation owns the product hires the labor and the family owns the farm and rents it to the corporation. It removes their personal liability if a worker maims themselves on the job, or someone gets salmonella or listeria from a product they produce, the corporate assets are at risk, not the home and land.
Why not ignore the CAFO's we ignore Human cities which are far more destructive, far more polluting. Where are the organic farmers to use the hills of manure that are essential to replenishing the soil? The farmer who mixes cattle sheep pigs and poultry on one farm is the guy who is responsible for the hybrid influenzas like the current H1N1.
When we go all organic and eliminate the evil corporations, who will process the product that can't be sold fresh? Are you willing to be included in the third of the worlds population that is estimated to starve to death because of inadequate food supplies? Are you willing to work on a farm for meager pay for excessively long hours to fill your Utopian dream? Oh and then lets complain about the low paid farm workers, the suffering migrant laborers, the fact that you can't grow locally enough food to feed metropolitan New Your City's population. Where do you get your fruit and vegetables in winter in Fargo North Dakota in January? Hope you like beets and rutabaga, that's about all your options would be.
Grow up, their is a middle ground that is essential to feed an overpopulated world. You need corporate entities to preserve, can and process the seasonal crops that are essential to feed everyone. Yes, modern agriculture must be sustainable, but organic as it exists today can't fill every need, science, selective breeding of plants to improve yields and disease and pest resistance are essential, and only evil corporations have the resources to do this.
Meat guy at 9:06AM on 11/06/09
Well, I guess the call to action worked as there's a comment troll shilling for factory farming in the comment section here. Look, I don't argue that you can't go back to a 1940s economy in the US and still feed people. But if I make the economic choice to stop eating as much as I can from factory farming, don't get all huffy with me and tell me I'm destroying America; that's a crap argument. I am exercising my economic choice just like farmers are when they decide what techniques and methods to use in producing their crops.
And scare tactics about losing the family farm are pretty low. There's a huge exemption on the inheritance tax so the VAST majority of family-owned farms would NEVER be hit by a single penny of tax. Specious political scare-tactic argument used to frighten rural voters.
kitchengeeking at 11:20AM on 11/08/09
Hey meatguy, so well put . When my head swims with this elitist organic,grassfed ,locovor,sustainable,carbon print crap from the mid town Manhatten crowd I think : Africans are so lucky ,every thing they eat is organic and grassfed . If they live long enough they may even move up to sustainable from starving .Why doesn't the midtown NYC farmers present the "ignoble prize" for nutrition to Pollan's leftist African leaders for their great advances in Agriculture ?
jfitz at 8:24AM on 11/09/09