Showing posts with label Michael Pollan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Pollan. Show all posts
2/08/2010
10/08/2009
9/28/2009
Why Are Farmers Afraid of Pollan?
Published on Friday, September 25, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
Why Are Farmers Afraid of Michael Pollan?
by Jim Goodman
Author Michael Pollan [1] is no stranger to controversy. He has broadened the discussion of what we eat, where and how it is grown, big vs. small, organic farming vs. conventional. When he speaks some in the audience will love him, some will not.
Advocates of large scale agriculture see Pollan as the enemy, they believe he stands against everything they see as the future of agriculture. Pollen however is not an absolutist, his basic premise is that people need to think more about their food; where it was grown, how it was grown, was the farmer paid fairly, is it good for you?
Pollan wants people to think about cooking, about food freshness and flavor, about the dinner table as more than a "filling station".
Knowing your food is not a radical concept, and it should not be a frightening concept. Knowledge is power, the more we know, the better choices we can make.
Farmers should have nothing to hide, and those most upset with Pollan's theories on eating, tout their large scale farming methods as being models of efficiency, environmental protection, animal welfare and safe food.
Still, they fear his thoughts being mainstream. Granted, Pollan is not a farmer, and does not know all the intricacies of farming; he does not claim to. However, those who denounce him do not know the intricacies of the local, regional and organic farming he advocates.
So, why are they afraid of what he has to say? Pollen admits there is no one right way to farm, there is no one system that will work for all farmers. He maintains that all farmers need to make a living yet be mindful of how they farm, how they raise their animals and how they maintain the environment. If Pollan has an argument with agriculture, it is not with farmers, it is with agribusiness.
Author Wendell Berry notes that "Agribusiness is immensely more profitable than agriculture". Any farmer knows that the corporate owners of seed, chemicals, fertilizer and the buyers of grain, livestock and milk always seem to make a profit; farmers do not.
Over the past 60 years farmers have seen competition in the market place steadily disappear as corporate mergers concentrated all aspects of agriculture into the hands of a few multinational corporations.
Their profit comes at the expense of the farmer, the farm worker, consumer safety and the environment.
While farmers defend themselves against what they see as an attack by Pollan, they are really defending agribusiness. When they say they love their Roundup Ready corn, the hormones and the chemicals they are promoting the corporations that always make a profit whether the farmers win or lose.
When farmers disparage small-scale ecological agriculture because it "will never feed the world" they conveniently forget that conventional agriculture has not fed the world either, despite 60 years of promises to do so. They also ignore the findings [2] of IAASTD [3] that indicate [3] the old paradigm of industrial agriculture is a thing of the past.
The industrial model sources food from the world, pits farmer against farmer in a race to the bottom. Globalized commodities converted into processed nutritionally empty foods, make corporations rich, Americans obese, and developing countries destitute .
Pollan just wants farmers and consumers to think. Agribusiness is rich and persuasive, they own both ends of the market place and they want to keep it that way. When people think about what they eat and what they grow, chances are, eventually, they will make the right choice.
Jim Goodman is a dairy farmer and activist from Wonewoc, WI and a WK Kellogg Food and Society [4] Policy Fellow.
Why Are Farmers Afraid of Michael Pollan?
by Jim Goodman
Author Michael Pollan [1] is no stranger to controversy. He has broadened the discussion of what we eat, where and how it is grown, big vs. small, organic farming vs. conventional. When he speaks some in the audience will love him, some will not.
Advocates of large scale agriculture see Pollan as the enemy, they believe he stands against everything they see as the future of agriculture. Pollen however is not an absolutist, his basic premise is that people need to think more about their food; where it was grown, how it was grown, was the farmer paid fairly, is it good for you?
Pollan wants people to think about cooking, about food freshness and flavor, about the dinner table as more than a "filling station".
Knowing your food is not a radical concept, and it should not be a frightening concept. Knowledge is power, the more we know, the better choices we can make.
Farmers should have nothing to hide, and those most upset with Pollan's theories on eating, tout their large scale farming methods as being models of efficiency, environmental protection, animal welfare and safe food.
Still, they fear his thoughts being mainstream. Granted, Pollan is not a farmer, and does not know all the intricacies of farming; he does not claim to. However, those who denounce him do not know the intricacies of the local, regional and organic farming he advocates.
So, why are they afraid of what he has to say? Pollen admits there is no one right way to farm, there is no one system that will work for all farmers. He maintains that all farmers need to make a living yet be mindful of how they farm, how they raise their animals and how they maintain the environment. If Pollan has an argument with agriculture, it is not with farmers, it is with agribusiness.
Author Wendell Berry notes that "Agribusiness is immensely more profitable than agriculture". Any farmer knows that the corporate owners of seed, chemicals, fertilizer and the buyers of grain, livestock and milk always seem to make a profit; farmers do not.
Over the past 60 years farmers have seen competition in the market place steadily disappear as corporate mergers concentrated all aspects of agriculture into the hands of a few multinational corporations.
Their profit comes at the expense of the farmer, the farm worker, consumer safety and the environment.
While farmers defend themselves against what they see as an attack by Pollan, they are really defending agribusiness. When they say they love their Roundup Ready corn, the hormones and the chemicals they are promoting the corporations that always make a profit whether the farmers win or lose.
When farmers disparage small-scale ecological agriculture because it "will never feed the world" they conveniently forget that conventional agriculture has not fed the world either, despite 60 years of promises to do so. They also ignore the findings [2] of IAASTD [3] that indicate [3] the old paradigm of industrial agriculture is a thing of the past.
The industrial model sources food from the world, pits farmer against farmer in a race to the bottom. Globalized commodities converted into processed nutritionally empty foods, make corporations rich, Americans obese, and developing countries destitute .
Pollan just wants farmers and consumers to think. Agribusiness is rich and persuasive, they own both ends of the market place and they want to keep it that way. When people think about what they eat and what they grow, chances are, eventually, they will make the right choice.
Jim Goodman is a dairy farmer and activist from Wonewoc, WI and a WK Kellogg Food and Society [4] Policy Fellow.
9/23/2009
Pollan's In Defense of Food, on Campus
In Dairyland, Pollan's 'Food' book sparks debate - Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090924/ap_on_re_us/us_food_book_university
Press Release from High Mowing Farms
For Immediate Release
September 23, 2009
Local Seed Company Wins Lawsuit Against Genetically Engineered Crops
High Mowing Organic Seeds, a mail-order organic seed company based in Wolcott, Vermont announced today that it has won its nearly 20 month lawsuit against the USDA for the premature deregulation of Monsanto’s genetically engineered sugar beets. Additional plaintiffs include the Center for Food Safety, Organic Seed Alliance and the Sierra Club and were represented in addition, by Earth Justice attorneys. The groups filed the lawsuit in January 2008.
High Mowing’s founder and President, Tom Stearns says, “This ruling is a success not just for organic farmers but for all who have hope for a healthier food system in this country. All wise solutions to our agricultural challenges should serve our physical health, environmental health and the economic viability of farmers and the communities in which they live.”
The U.S. District Court for the northern district of California ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) violated federal law by failing to prepare an environmental impact statement before deregulating genetically altered sugar beets.
Monsanto developed the biotech beets to be resistant to Monsanto's glyphosate herbicide Roundup, and promotes the sugarbeets as "Roundup Ready."
In 2009, 1.1 million acres were planted with GMO sugar beets and almost half of the sugar in the U.S. is made from beets.
Recently, the USDA has shown great signs of progress in support of local and organic food by elevating the National Organic Program to its own division and just yesterday, hiring Miles McEvoy as its head. The USDA, headed by Sec. Vilsack and Deputy Sec. Merrigan have also been making important announcements for the last week as they kick-off their new campaign, Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food. Stearns believes that these are critical and substantial changes within the department and “that a tipping point has been reached and that the USDA is now becoming part of the solution to re-building healthy food systems in this country.”
High Mowing is just one of dozens of farms and agricultural businesses in the Hardwick, Vermont region that have been collaborating with each other for many years. The NY Times, Gourmet Magazine, Eating Well Magazine and authors Michael Pollan, Bill McKibben, Sen. Patrick Leahy and many others have declared the region as a national model for healthy food systems and building economic development through value-added agriculture. In mid-September, camera crews and Chef Emeril Legasse and Dan Rather Reports filmed many activities of the region for their upcoming shows on healthy food systems.
For more information contact:
Tom Stearns, High Mowing Organic Seeds
tom@highmowingseeds.com
802-472-6174 ext. 114
September 23, 2009
Local Seed Company Wins Lawsuit Against Genetically Engineered Crops
High Mowing Organic Seeds, a mail-order organic seed company based in Wolcott, Vermont announced today that it has won its nearly 20 month lawsuit against the USDA for the premature deregulation of Monsanto’s genetically engineered sugar beets. Additional plaintiffs include the Center for Food Safety, Organic Seed Alliance and the Sierra Club and were represented in addition, by Earth Justice attorneys. The groups filed the lawsuit in January 2008.
High Mowing’s founder and President, Tom Stearns says, “This ruling is a success not just for organic farmers but for all who have hope for a healthier food system in this country. All wise solutions to our agricultural challenges should serve our physical health, environmental health and the economic viability of farmers and the communities in which they live.”
The U.S. District Court for the northern district of California ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) violated federal law by failing to prepare an environmental impact statement before deregulating genetically altered sugar beets.
Monsanto developed the biotech beets to be resistant to Monsanto's glyphosate herbicide Roundup, and promotes the sugarbeets as "Roundup Ready."
In 2009, 1.1 million acres were planted with GMO sugar beets and almost half of the sugar in the U.S. is made from beets.
Recently, the USDA has shown great signs of progress in support of local and organic food by elevating the National Organic Program to its own division and just yesterday, hiring Miles McEvoy as its head. The USDA, headed by Sec. Vilsack and Deputy Sec. Merrigan have also been making important announcements for the last week as they kick-off their new campaign, Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food. Stearns believes that these are critical and substantial changes within the department and “that a tipping point has been reached and that the USDA is now becoming part of the solution to re-building healthy food systems in this country.”
High Mowing is just one of dozens of farms and agricultural businesses in the Hardwick, Vermont region that have been collaborating with each other for many years. The NY Times, Gourmet Magazine, Eating Well Magazine and authors Michael Pollan, Bill McKibben, Sen. Patrick Leahy and many others have declared the region as a national model for healthy food systems and building economic development through value-added agriculture. In mid-September, camera crews and Chef Emeril Legasse and Dan Rather Reports filmed many activities of the region for their upcoming shows on healthy food systems.
For more information contact:
Tom Stearns, High Mowing Organic Seeds
tom@highmowingseeds.com
802-472-6174 ext. 114
9/10/2009
Big Food vs. Big Insurance
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/opinion/10pollan.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
5/20/2009
5/14/2009
Easy Rule to Remember
[Our dollar is our vote]
"Omnivore's Dilemma" Author Michael Pollan's New Advice on Buying Food: "Don't Buy Any Food You've Ever Seen Advertised"
Michael Pollan is one of the nation's leading writers and thinkers in this country on the issue of food. He is author of several books about food, including The Botany of Desire, The Omnivore's Dilemma and his latest, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. In light of what he calls the processed food industry's co-option of "sustainability" and its vast spending on marketing, Pollan advises to be wary of any food that's advertised.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/14/omnivores_dilemma_author_michael_pollans_new
"Omnivore's Dilemma" Author Michael Pollan's New Advice on Buying Food: "Don't Buy Any Food You've Ever Seen Advertised"
Michael Pollan is one of the nation's leading writers and thinkers in this country on the issue of food. He is author of several books about food, including The Botany of Desire, The Omnivore's Dilemma and his latest, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. In light of what he calls the processed food industry's co-option of "sustainability" and its vast spending on marketing, Pollan advises to be wary of any food that's advertised.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/14/omnivores_dilemma_author_michael_pollans_new
5/13/2009
Pollan on Eating Well
Here's a sampling of Michael Pollan's rules of how to eat well:
Avoid food products that contain ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more than five in number or include high-fructose corn syrup.
Avoid products that make health claims.
Shop in the peripheries of the supermarket, where the fresh food is; avoid the middle, where processed food resides.
Eat meals, not snacks.
Eat plants, especially leaves.
Don't get your fuel from the same place as your car gets its gas.
Eat slowly, at a table, and try not to eat alone.
Avoid food products that contain ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more than five in number or include high-fructose corn syrup.
Avoid products that make health claims.
Shop in the peripheries of the supermarket, where the fresh food is; avoid the middle, where processed food resides.
Eat meals, not snacks.
Eat plants, especially leaves.
Don't get your fuel from the same place as your car gets its gas.
Eat slowly, at a table, and try not to eat alone.
4/25/2009
The Food Revolution
Michael Pollan | A Food Revolution in the Making From Victory Gardens to White House Lawn
truthout.org/042309EA
Michael Pollan, OnEarth: "Last month, First Lady Michelle Obama broke ground for a new vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House. It's the first time food will be grown at the president's residence since Eleanor Roosevelt planted her Victory Garden during World War II. Back then, as part of the war effort, the government rationed many foods and the shortage of labor and transportation fuel made it difficult for farmers to harvest and deliver fruits and vegetables to market. The First Lady's Victory Garden set an example for the entire nation: they too could produce their own fruits and vegetables. Nearly 20 million Americans answered the call. They planted gardens in backyards, empty lots, and even on city rooftops. Neighbors pooled their resources, planted different types of produce, and formed cooperatives - all in the name of patriotism."
truthout.org/042309EA
Michael Pollan, OnEarth: "Last month, First Lady Michelle Obama broke ground for a new vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House. It's the first time food will be grown at the president's residence since Eleanor Roosevelt planted her Victory Garden during World War II. Back then, as part of the war effort, the government rationed many foods and the shortage of labor and transportation fuel made it difficult for farmers to harvest and deliver fruits and vegetables to market. The First Lady's Victory Garden set an example for the entire nation: they too could produce their own fruits and vegetables. Nearly 20 million Americans answered the call. They planted gardens in backyards, empty lots, and even on city rooftops. Neighbors pooled their resources, planted different types of produce, and formed cooperatives - all in the name of patriotism."
12/10/2008
11/30/2008
7/22/2008
When You Get the Mass Oil E-mail, Use This
[written by a friend to her niece]
A) This is utter nonsense. Prices rise when demand exceeds supply. Demand is increasing exponentially. Production (supply) either has already begun or will soon begin its inevitible and permanent decline. The era of cheap, easy oil is over. From now on, we spend more energy to get less energy with a much greater destruction of the habitat on which our lives depend. It is hardly the Saudis "gauging us on oil prices."
It could be argued that our elected officials have worked very hard to keep the "non-negotiable" American lifestyle 100% dependent on oil. Our addiction to oil lines their pockets. Certainly, OPEC must be glad to have the US as a thoroughly dependent customer, but China and India are becoming oil junkies as well and, en masse, have much greater potential as profligate consumers. So if you want to strangle someone, you could look closer to home.
More productive, though, than looking about for someone to strangle might be learning ways to reduce our dependence on oil. Michael Pollan has estimated that one fifth of our oil consumption is used in industrial agriculture, more than is used in transportation. So learning to eat local, in-season, and low on the food chain would likely reduce your consumption of OPEC oil more than buying your gas from Shell. (Rather than tell you which page of which book you can check that data on, I'll suggest you read both "Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food.")
B) Now, on to the subject of exponential distribution of mass emails. There is a reason the original emailer of this message was delerious about reaching THREE MILLION!!! or THREE HUNDRED MILLION!!!!! people. This is spammer heaven. Most of people who send mass emails don't use the blind copy feature, so most of three million addresses will be visible for harvest by spammers.
I also understand that some of these emails are started by students doing (often very intriguing) research of one sort or another.
C) In any event, these emailers have their own agendas, and accuracy is not a high priority. So, for example, contrary to what is reported in the email you forwarded, the Deptment of Energy reports that "Conoco" (which is reported by the DOE as Conoco Phillips), "BP Phillips (which is reported as BP Products), and Valero did buy Persian Gulf oil in 2007, while the DOE has no 2007 listing at all for Hess, ARCO, or Maverick. Sadly, many of those "urgent virus warnings" that you should forward to everyone you know are also hoaxes. A little fact checking is usually in order if you value accuracy.
A) This is utter nonsense. Prices rise when demand exceeds supply. Demand is increasing exponentially. Production (supply) either has already begun or will soon begin its inevitible and permanent decline. The era of cheap, easy oil is over. From now on, we spend more energy to get less energy with a much greater destruction of the habitat on which our lives depend. It is hardly the Saudis "gauging us on oil prices."
It could be argued that our elected officials have worked very hard to keep the "non-negotiable" American lifestyle 100% dependent on oil. Our addiction to oil lines their pockets. Certainly, OPEC must be glad to have the US as a thoroughly dependent customer, but China and India are becoming oil junkies as well and, en masse, have much greater potential as profligate consumers. So if you want to strangle someone, you could look closer to home.
More productive, though, than looking about for someone to strangle might be learning ways to reduce our dependence on oil. Michael Pollan has estimated that one fifth of our oil consumption is used in industrial agriculture, more than is used in transportation. So learning to eat local, in-season, and low on the food chain would likely reduce your consumption of OPEC oil more than buying your gas from Shell. (Rather than tell you which page of which book you can check that data on, I'll suggest you read both "Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food.")
B) Now, on to the subject of exponential distribution of mass emails. There is a reason the original emailer of this message was delerious about reaching THREE MILLION!!! or THREE HUNDRED MILLION!!!!! people. This is spammer heaven. Most of people who send mass emails don't use the blind copy feature, so most of three million addresses will be visible for harvest by spammers.
I also understand that some of these emails are started by students doing (often very intriguing) research of one sort or another.
C) In any event, these emailers have their own agendas, and accuracy is not a high priority. So, for example, contrary to what is reported in the email you forwarded, the Deptment of Energy reports that "Conoco" (which is reported by the DOE as Conoco Phillips), "BP Phillips (which is reported as BP Products), and Valero did buy Persian Gulf oil in 2007, while the DOE has no 2007 listing at all for Hess, ARCO, or Maverick. Sadly, many of those "urgent virus warnings" that you should forward to everyone you know are also hoaxes. A little fact checking is usually in order if you value accuracy.
5/30/2008
Up to 40%
"During World War II, victory gardens supplied as much as 40 percent of the produce Americans ate." Michael Pollan
5/25/2008
Are You Manipulated by Corn?
http://allalongtheedge.blogspot.com/2008/05/michael-pollan-omnivore-next-dilemma.html
11/04/2007
Farm Bill, Pollan
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04pollan.html?ex=1194843600&en=5c0cb0a3e48e7c8e&ei=5070&emc=eta1
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