Okay, it's a little late for a write-in candidate. But maybe the president-elect will put Michael Pollan in the new cabinet as Secretary of Agriculture. Michael Pollan is the well-known food writer (several best-selling books), contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, and now professor of journalism at the University of California-Berkeley.
As an article in the October 12, 2008, issue of the New York Times Magazine, Pollan wrote an open letter to the president-elect on the state of food and food production in America. It is long—8,000+ words—so it may not fit your schedule to read the entire thing. But if you can squeeze it in it is certainly worth the effort.
In addition to thoroughly explaining how we got to where we are today, and how the increase of factory-farmed food has paralleled the rise in chronic disease in America, he makes a number of specific recommendations to the new president for returning America to a land that cares about food, how it is produced, and the environmental and health benefits that would result. I printed out the article and marked a number of passages I was going to type out in this post, but there were so many I had to abandon that idea.
The article is amazing in scope and in creative solutions to our food (and, by extension, our health) problem. You can read the article at the New York Times Magazine site (free registration required) or on Michael Pollan's web site.
As an article in the October 12, 2008, issue of the New York Times Magazine, Pollan wrote an open letter to the president-elect on the state of food and food production in America. It is long—8,000+ words—so it may not fit your schedule to read the entire thing. But if you can squeeze it in it is certainly worth the effort.
In addition to thoroughly explaining how we got to where we are today, and how the increase of factory-farmed food has paralleled the rise in chronic disease in America, he makes a number of specific recommendations to the new president for returning America to a land that cares about food, how it is produced, and the environmental and health benefits that would result. I printed out the article and marked a number of passages I was going to type out in this post, but there were so many I had to abandon that idea.
The article is amazing in scope and in creative solutions to our food (and, by extension, our health) problem. You can read the article at the New York Times Magazine site (free registration required) or on Michael Pollan's web site.
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I've got to get some of his books. I get recommendations for his stuff all the time. Or maybe I'll just check out this site. Thanks for sharing. And as to one of your earlier posts--I'm so excited about the blueberries! love you, jen
ReplyDeleteHaving plowed through all of his books, they are all long and dense. He doesn't approach anything lightly, but the effort is rewarded. The easiest to read (shortest) and most applicable to the "food" discussion from "our" perspective is his latest, In Defense of Food. Probably at the library.
ReplyDeleteJen -- didn't mean to imply you weren't up for a long read. :-)
ReplyDeleteRather, just meant that In Defense of Food is the one I found most helpful for what I'm interested in, and that you might enjoy the most.