is anyone else interested in his ideas? I’m new to this stuff, so take it easy on me.
It was mostly about a guy on PBS on the bill moyers show that had a
very advanced view of how to make better use of the farmland and how
better eating habits could change the whole economy.
He said 40 percent of all the food grown in the US is fed to animals
which are then slaughtered. Also, he said all the corn syrup for soda
is waste of energy, because it is so processed that it takes 10 raw
calories to come out with one in the end.
its this guy http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11282008/profile.html
michael pollan
I’ve read a bunch of his stuff in the New York Times and found it thought-provoking. I read the article that I believe was an excerpt from, or was expanded into his Food Manifesto book. I have not read that book - and it sounds like your facts from him may come from that book, I don’t know - but it seems more politicized. At this point, I haven’t had the time to look further…
His In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto came out of his previous book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which looked at how food is produced in this country. The follow up was to help people whose eyes were opened by the latter book who wanted to know how they should be making their food choices, given what he described.
I’m a huge, huge fan. I started with Botany of Desire and have read everything except his house one, which is on my list.
Not only is he a great, easy read, but I’m amazed at how often he is quoted in other books. Example, I just read “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” and she refers to him often.
I’ve read Defense and Omnivore. The strange thing about his books is that suddenly I - who cannot manage to grow a pot of tomatos - think maybe organic gardening is the career for me…they are inspiring in a strange way. (Being somewhat more pragmatic, I decided to shop more at the farmer’s market rather than invest in chickens).
I read and liked In Defense of Food. My husband listened to an interview with Pollan on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” not that long ago, and liked his message as well. Plus the easy ‘distillation’ of the main points of that book is great in helping you remember his points or explain them to others. “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Then you can expand from there, like saying that “Eat food” means real food, not processed stuff in a box - from there you can cite the “Grandmother rule”: If anyone’s great(?)-grandmother would recognize the item as being food, it’s acceptable for this purpose.
An argument against corn syrup for soda because it’s calorically inefficient sounds pretty wildly Crazy Eddie to me. It’s like banning driving at night because you burn more fuel powering the headlights.
Reminds me of when I was in high school and I was getting an “A” in a course yet my mother always found ways I could do it better and be more productive
