An Omnivore's Research: by and about Michael Pollan  Tags: food plants michael_pollan gardening agriculture  

Michael Pollan (born February 6, 1955) is a professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is also director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism.

Biography

Pollan is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, a former executive editor for Harper's Magazine, and author of five books: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (2008) The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006), The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (2001), A Place of My Own (1997), and Second Nature: A Gardener's Education (1991).

Pollan received a B.A. from Bennington College, and continued his studies at Mansfield College at Oxford University and Columbia University, where he earned his master's degree in English in 1981.

His recent work has dealt with the practices of the meat industry, and he has written a number of articles on trends in American agriculture.

He has received the Reuters World Conservation Union Global Awards in environmental journalism, the James Beard Foundation Awards for best magazine series in 2003, and the Genesis Award from the American Humane Association. His articles have been anthologized in Best American Science Writing (2004), Best American Essays (1990 and 2003), The Animals: Practicing Complexity (2006) and the Norton Book of Nature Writing (1990).

Pollan is the son of author and financial consultant Stephen Pollan, the brother of actress Tracy Pollan and the brother-in-law of Michael J. Fox, Tracy's husband. He is married to painter Judith Belzer.^{[citation needed]}

In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan describes four basic ways that human societies have obtained food: the current industrial system, the big organic operation, the local self-sufficient farm, and the hunter-gatherer. Pollan follows each of these processes from a group of plants photosynthesizing calories, through a series of intermediate stages, and ultimately to a meal. Along the way, he suggests that there is a fundamental tension between the logic of nature and the logic of human industry; that the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world; and that industrial eating obscures crucially important ecological relationships and connections. On December 10, 2006, The New York Times named The Omnivore's Dilemma one of the five best nonfiction books of the year. The book appears on NovelTracker.com's short list of non-fiction that reads as well as the best fiction. On May 8, 2007, the James Beard Foundation named The Omnivore's Dilemma its 2007 winner for the best food writing. It is now the book of focus for the University of Pennsylvania's Reading Project 2007. An excerpt of the book was published in Mother Jones.^[1]

Pollan's discussion of the industrial food chain is in large part a critique of modern agribusiness. According to the book, agribusiness has lost touch with the natural cycles of farming, wherein livestock and crops intertwine in mutually beneficial circles. Pollan's critique of modern agribusiness focuses on what he calls the overuse of corn, for purposes ranging from fattening cattle to massive production of corn oil, high-fructose corn syrup, and other corn derivatives. He describes what he sees as the inefficiencies and other drawbacks of factory farming, assesses organic food production and what he thinks it is like to hunt and gather food. He blames those who set the rules – i.e., politicians in Washington, D.C., bureaucrats at the United States Department of Agriculture, Wall Street capitalists, and agricultural conglomerates like Archer Daniels Midland – for what he calls a destructive and precarious agricultural system that has wrought havoc upon the diet, nutrition, and well being of Americans. Pollan finds hope in Joel Salatin's Virginia farm "Polyface", which he sees as a model of sustainability in commercial farming. Pollan appears in the documentary film King Corn (2007).

In Botany of Desire, Pollan explores the concept of co-evolution, specifically of mankind's evolutionary relationship with four plants – apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes – from the dual perspectives of humans and the plants. He uses case examples that fit the archetype of four basic human desires, demonstrating how each of these botanical species are selectively grown, bred, and genetically engineered. The apple reflects the desire for sweetness, the tulip beauty, marijuana intoxication, and the potato control. Pollan then unravels the narrative of his own experience with each of the plants, which he then intertwines with a well-researched exploration into their social history. Each section presents a unique element of human domestication, or the "human bumblebee" as Pollan calls it. These range from the true story of Johnny Appleseed to Pollan's first-hand research with sophisticated marijuana hybrids in Amsterdam, to the alarming and paradigm-shifting possibilities of genetically engineered potatoes.

Pollan's latest book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, was released on January 1, 2008.

Pollan has contributed to Greater Good, a social psychology magazine published by the Greater Good Science Center at University of California, Berkeley. His article "Edible Ethics" discusses the intersection of ethical eating and social psychology.

Pollan reads from his work, is interviewed about his writing process, and answers questions from the audience.

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Michael Pollan visits Google's Mountain View, CA, headquarters to discuss his book, "In Defense of Food." This talk took place on March 4, 2008, as part of the Authors@Google series.

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Michael Pollan's new book, In Defense of Food, provides the backdrop for his talk at the Bagdad Theater in Portland, Oregon, and this prior interview with Deborah Kane of the environmental nonprofit organization, Ecotrust. Remarkably, Mr. Pollan is talking about a defense of food in a literal sense: it's increasingly difficult to escape from eating foods that are food-like substances (processed foods), but are not whole (real) foods. We have come to look upon "nutritionism" as a valid means of determining (healthy) value in our diet; food has been reduced to its composition of good and bad nutrients, but are we really eating healthier? In part one, we see how simple changes in food labeling requirements can influence consumer behavior, and how food manufacturer's apply overwhelming pressure to effect laws that ultimately protect their own interests.

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What if human consciousness isn't the end-all and be-all of Darwinism? What if we are all just pawns in corn's clever strategy game, the ultimate prize of which is world domination? Author Michael Pollan asks us to see things from a plant's-eye view -- to consider the possibility that nature isn't opposed to culture, that biochemistry rivals intellect as a survival tool. By merely shifting our perspective, he argues, we can heal the Earth. Who's the more sophisticated species now?

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