Michael Pollan 1

Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan

Pollan speaking at Yale University, 2011

Born 6 February 1955Long Island, New York, United States

Occupation Author, journalist, professor

Website

michaelpollan.com [1]

Michael Pollan (born February 6, 1955)[citation needed] is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor ofjournalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. A 2006 New York Times book review describes himas a "liberal foodie intellectual."

Early yearsPollan was born on February 6, 1955 in Long Island, New York, into a Jewish family. He is the son of author andfinancial consultant Stephen Pollan and columnist Corky Pollan. Pollan received a B.A. in English from BenningtonCollege in 1977 and an M.A. in English from Columbia University in 1981.

Career

BooksIn 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, ultimately into 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. On May 8, 2007, the James Beard Foundation named The Omnivore's Dilemma its 2007 winner for the best food writing. It was the book of focus for the University of Pennsylvania's Reading Project in 2007, and the book of choice for Washington State University's Common Reading Program in 2009–10. An excerpt of the book was

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published in Mother Jones.

Michael Pollan speaks to the Marin Academycommunity.

Pollan's discussion of the industrial food chain is in large part a critiqueof modern agribusiness. According to the book, agribusiness has losttouch with the natural cycles of farming, wherein livestock and cropsintertwine in mutually beneficial circles. Pollan's critique of modernagribusiness focuses on what he describes as the overuse of corn forpurposes ranging from fattening cattle to massive production of cornoil, high-fructose corn syrup, and other corn derivatives. He describeswhat he sees as the inefficiencies and other drawbacks of factoryfarming and gives his assessment of organic food production and whatit's like to hunt and gather food. He blames those who set the rules (i.e.,politicians in Washington, D.C., bureaucrats at the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture, Wall Street capitalists, and agricultural

conglomerates like Archer Daniels Midland) of what he calls a destructive and precarious agricultural system thathas wrought havoc upon the diet, nutrition, and well-being of Americans. Pollan finds hope in Joel Salatin's PolyfaceFarm in Virginia, which he sees as a model of sustainability in commercial farming. Pollan appears in thedocumentary film King Corn (2007).

In The Botany of Desire, Pollan explores the concept of co-evolution, specifically of humankind's evolutionaryrelationship with four plants — apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes — from the dual perspectives of humans andthe plants. He uses case examples that fit the archetype of four basic human desires, demonstrating how each of thesebotanical species are selectively grown, bred, and genetically engineered. The apple reflects the desire for sweetness,the tulip beauty, the marijuana intoxication, and the potato control. Pollan then unravels the narrative of his ownexperience with each of the plants, which he 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. Theserange from the true story of Johnny Appleseed to Pollan's first-hand research with sophisticated marijuana hybrids inAmsterdam, to the alarming and paradigm-shifting possibilities of genetically engineered potatoes.

Pollan speaking at TED in 2007

Pollan's book In Defense of Food: An Eater'sManifesto, released on January 1, 2008, explores therelationship with what he terms nutritionism and theWestern diet, with a focus on late 20th century foodadvice given by the science community. Pollan holdsthat consumption of fat and dietary cholesterol do notlead to a higher rate of coronary disease, and that thereductive analysis of food into nutrient components is aflawed paradigm. He questions the view that the pointof eating is to promote health, pointing out that thisattitude is not universal and that cultures that perceivefood as having purposes of pleasure, identity, andsociality may end up with better health. He explainsthis seeming paradox by vetting, and then validating,the notion that nutritionism and, therefore, the whole Western framework through which we intellectualize the valueof food is more a religious and faddish devotion to the mythology of simple solutions than a convincing and reliableconclusion of incontrovertible scientific research. Pollan spends the rest of his book explicating his first threephrases: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." He contends that most of what Americans now buy insupermarkets, fast food stores, and restaurants is not in fact food, and that a practical tip is to eat only those thingsthat people of his grandmother's generation would have recognized as food.

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Later, he tempers that injunction: to what your great-great-grandmothers generation would have recognized as food,but that is solely to vilify sugar - this being approximately when refined sugar became generally accessible.In 2009, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual was published. This short work is a condensed version of his previousefforts, intended to provide a simple framework for healthy and sustainable diet. It is divided into three sections,further explicating Pollan's principles of "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." It includes his rules (i.e., "letothers sample your food" and "the whiter the bread, the sooner you'll be dead").In Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, published in 2013, Pollan explores the methods by which cooksmediate "between nature and culture." The book is organized in four sections corresponding to the classical elementsof Fire (cooking with heat), Water (braising and boiling with pots), Air (breadmaking), and Earth (fermenting).Pollan has contributed to Greater Good, a social psychology magazine published by the Greater Good ScienceCenter at University of California, Berkeley. His article "Edible Ethics" discusses the intersection of ethical eatingand social psychology.In his 1998 book A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder, Pollan methodically traced the designand construction of the out-building where he writes. The 2008 re-release of this book was re-titled A Place of MyOwn: The Architecture of Daydreams.

Other workPollan 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 NaturalHistory 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).His recent work has dealt with the practices of the meat industry, and he has written a number of articles on trends inAmerican agriculture. He has received the Reuters World Conservation Union Global Awards in environmentaljournalism, the James Beard Foundation Awards for best magazine series in 2003, and the Genesis Award from theHumane Society of the United States. 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 NatureWriting (1990).Pollan co-starred in the documentary, Food, Inc. (2008), for which he was also a consultant. In 2010 Pollan wasinterviewed for the film Queen of the Sun: What are the bees telling us?, a feature length documentary about honeybees and colony collapse disorder.[2]

CriticismWriting in the American Enterprise Institute's magazine, Blake Hurst argues that Pollan offers a shallow assessmentof factory farming that does not take cost into account. Daniel Engber criticized Pollan in Slate for arguing that foodis too complex a subject to study scientifically and blaming reductionism for today's health ills, while at the sametime using nutritional research to justify his own diet advice. He compares Pollan's "straight-forward" anti-scientificmethod based on only rhetoric to that used by health gurus of history who have peddled diet scams.Pollan's work was also discussed and criticized by Jonathan Safran Foer in his non-fiction book Eating Animals.Foer criticizes Pollan's argument regarding table-fellowship. Pollan claims that a vegetarian dinner guest causessocially reprimandable inconvenience for the host. Foer responds that in the year 2010 it is easier for hosts toaccommodate vegetarians than locavores as hosts will need to do extensive research to find (expensive) nonfactory-farmed meat.Pollan has been accused by Jon Entine of using his considerable influence to promote anti-GMO junk science. A number of scientists and journalists have similarly characterized Pollan's work as biased against GMOs. For example, University of California-Berkeley biologist Michael Eisen said of Pollan's attack on a New York Times

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article on GMOs, that it was "a new low even in Pollan's "anti-GMO crusade".[3]

BibliographyBooks• Second Nature: A Gardener's Education. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press. 1991. ISBN 978-0-87113-443-1.• A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder. New York: Random House. 1997.

ISBN 978-0-679-41532-9.• The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World. New York: Random House. 2001.

ISBN 978-0-375-50129-6.• The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: Penguin Press. 2006.

ISBN 978-1-59420-082-3.• In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. New York: Penguin Press. 2008. ISBN 978-1-59420-145-5.• Food Rules: An Eater's Manual. New York: Penguin Press. 2009. ISBN 978-0-14-311638-7.• Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation. New York: Penguin Press. 2013. ISBN 978-1594204210.Essays• "Opium Made Easy" [4]. Harper's. April 1997.• "When a Crop Becomes King" [5]. The New York Times. July 19, 2002. Retrieved 2008-09-21.• "An Animal's Place" [6]. The New York Times. November 10, 2002. Retrieved 2008-09-21.• "Mass Natural" [7]. The New York Times. June 4, 2006. Retrieved 2008-09-21.• "Six rules for eating wisely" [8]. Time magazine. June 11, 2006. Retrieved 2008-09-21.• "Unhappy Meals" [9]. The New York Times. January 28, 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-21.• "You Are What You Grow" [10]. The New York Times. 22 April 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-21.• "Our Decrepit Food Factories" [11]. The New York Times. December 16, 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-21.• "Why bother?" [12]. The New York Times. April 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-21.• "An Open Letter to the Farmer in Chief" [13]. The New York Times. October 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-12.• "Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch" [14]. The New York Times. July 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-02.• "Big Food vs. Big Insurance" [15]. The New York Times. September 9, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-14.Interviews• Michael Pollan (June 4, 2001). A Plant's-Eye View Of The World [16] (audio). Interview with Ketzel Levine.

Morning Edition. NPR. Retrieved 2008-11-29.• Michael Pollan (September 2004). The Cheapest Calories Make You the Fattest [17] (transcript). Interview with

Helen Wagenvoord. Sierra Magazine. Retrieved 2008-11-29.• Michael Pollan (Spring/Summer 2006). Edible Ethics [18] (transcript). Interview with Jason Marsh. Greater Good

magazine. Retrieved 2008-11-29.• Michael Pollan (February 13, 2008). In Defense of Food [19] (video/audio/transcript). Interview with Amy

Goodman. Democracy Now. Retrieved 2008-11-29.• Michael Pollan (October 30, 2008). An Evening with Michael Pollan [20] (audio). Interview with Warren

Etheredge. The Warren Report. Retrieved 2008-11-29.• Michael Pollan (November 28, 2008). (video/transcript). Interview with Bill Moyers. Bill Moyers Journal. PBS

http:/ / www. pbs. org/ moyers/ journal/ 11282008/ profile. html [21]. Retrieved 2008-11-29. Missing or empty|title= (help)

• Michael Pollan (June 25, 2009). Food and Fossil Fuels [22] (video). Interview with Melissa Moser. Powering ANation: UNC News21 Project. Retrieved 2009-08-04.

• Michael Pollan (June 25, 2009). Checking Out Michael Pollan's Garden [23] (video). Interview with MelissaMoser. Powering A Nation: UNC News21 Project. Retrieved 2009-08-04.

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• Michael Pollan (May 23, 2009). What's for Dinner with Michael Pollan [24] (audio). Interview with KathleenSlattery-Moschkau. The Kathleen Show. Retrieved 2010-09-23.

• Michael Pollan (June 22, 2009). Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis interview: Michael Pollan. Sponsored byGaiam. [25] (video). Interview with Waylon Lewis. Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis. Retrieved2010-09-23.

• http:/ / www. democracynow. org/ 2012/ 10/ 24/ michael_pollan_californias_prop_37_fight

References[1] http:/ / michaelpollan. com/[2] Michael Pollan (http:/ / www. queenofthesun. com/ 2010/ 11/ michael-pollan-author-omnivores-dilemma/ ). Queen of the Sun.[3] Michael Pollan Promotes 'Denialist' Anti-GMO Junk Science, Says He Manipulates New York Times' Editors (http:/ / www. forbes. com/

sites/ jonentine/ 2013/ 10/ 24/ michael-pollan-promotes-denialist-anti-gmo-junk-science-brags-he-manipulates-new-york-times-editors/ 2/ ),Jon Entine, executive director of the Genetic Literacy Project, is a senior fellow at the Center for Health & Risk Communication and STATS(Statistical Assessment Service) at George Mason University. Forbes, 10/24/2013.

[4] http:/ / www. michaelpollan. com/ article. php?id=24[5] http:/ / query. nytimes. com/ gst/ fullpage. html?sec=health& res=9C05E5DE1139F93AA25754C0A9649C8B63[6] http:/ / query. nytimes. com/ gst/ fullpage. html?res=9500EFD7153EF933A25752C1A9649C8B63[7] http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2006/ 06/ 04/ magazine/ 04wwln_lede. html[8] http:/ / www. time. com/ time/ magazine/ article/ 0,9171,1200782-1,00. html[9] http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2007/ 01/ 28/ magazine/ 28nutritionism. t. html[10] http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2007/ 04/ 22/ magazine/ 22wwlnlede. t. html[11] http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2007/ 12/ 16/ magazine/ 16wwln-lede-t. htm[12] http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2008/ 04/ 20/ magazine/ 20wwln-lede-t. html[13] http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2008/ 10/ 12/ magazine/ 12policy-t. html[14] http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2009/ 08/ 02/ magazine/ 02cooking-t. html[15] http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2009/ 09/ 10/ opinion/ 10pollan. html[16] http:/ / www. npr. org/ programs/ talkingplants/ radio/ 010604. pollan. html[17] http:/ / www. sierraclub. org/ sierra/ 200409/ interview. asp[18] http:/ / greatergood. berkeley. edu/ greatergood/ archive/ 2006springsummer/ pollan. html[19] http:/ / www. democracynow. org/ 2008/ 2/ 13/ in_defense_of_food_author_journalist[20] http:/ / media. libsyn. com/ media/ thewarrenreport/ BookSmartMichaelPollanInDefenseofFood. mp3[21] http:/ / www. pbs. org/ moyers/ journal/ 11282008/ profile. html[22] http:/ / news21. jomc. unc. edu/ index. php/ stories/ diet/ food-and-fossil-fuels. html[23] http:/ / news21. jomc. unc. edu/ index. php/ powering-a-nation-blog. html[24] http:/ / www. thekathleenshow. com/ 2009/ 05/ 23/ michael-pollan/[25] http:/ / www. elephantjournal. com/ 2009/ 06/

elephantjournalcom-founder-waylon-lewis-interviews-michael-pollan-re-how-to-communicate-green-to-the-masses-why-he-eats-meat-gmos-cancer-diet-swine-flu-michelle-obamas-organic-garden-s/

External links• Official site (http:/ / michaelpollan. com)• Works by or about Michael Pollan (http:/ / worldcat. org/ identities/ lccn-n85-346809) in libraries (WorldCat

catalog)• (video) Michael Pollan on the Politics of Food (http:/ / www. uctv. tv/ search-details. aspx?showID=15882) from

UC Television (UCTV) (http:/ / www. uctv. tv/ )• Michael Pollan (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ name/ nm2293679/ ) at the Internet Movie Database• "The omnivore's next dilemma" (http:/ / www. ted. com/ index. php/ talks/ view/ id/ 214) at TED Talks• "In Defense of Food" (http:/ / libwww. freelibrary. org/ podcast/ media/ 20080110-michael. mp3) at The Free

Library of Philadelphia, January 10, 2008• Skewed View from the Berkeley Hills: Why Michael Pollan and Alice Waters should quit celebrating food-price

hikes (http:/ / www. grist. org/ article/ skewed-view-from-the-berkeley-hills/ ) by Tom Philpott, Grist, April 4,2009.

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• Food and Fossil Fuels (http:/ / news21. jomc. unc. edu/ index. php/ michael-pollan-interview. html) by MelissaMoser, UNC News 21 Project, (http:/ / www. poweringanation. org), June 25, 2009

• Why are Farmers Afraid of Michael Pollan? (http:/ / www. counterpunch. org/ goodman09252009. html) by JimGoodman, CounterPunch, Sept 25 2009

• Michael Pollan on "Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual" (http:/ / www. democracynow. org/ 2010/ 2/ 8/michael_pollan_on_food_rules_an) - video report by Democracy Now!

Article Sources and Contributors 7

Article Sources and ContributorsMichael Pollan Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=601916496 Contributors: 842U, Aaronmcintosh, AdRock, Agrichuck2010, Albany NY, Algebraist, All Hallow's Wraith,Andrewtatum, Arthur Rubin, Ballparx, Betacommand, BillFlis, Boomshadow, Bsananda, Buteoful, C777, Cgingold, Choij, Chris the speller, Classicfilms, Clydefromiceland, Colonies Chris,Control.valve, DClement, DanBoothCohen, Darsular, Dawn Bard, Dia^, Digitk, Donfbreed2, Dosbears, Download, Dragonballyee, DreamGuy, Eattoast, Eleredford, Emeraldcityserendipity,Emerson7, Emeyers9211, Epiphone sg04, Everything counts, Fisherjs, Flavorpillhq, Floaterfluss, Forp, Fourthords, Fyrael, GDW13, Gadfium, Garion96, GeoMor, Gnoll110, Gobonobo,Graymornings, Grenavitar, Grgopwiz, Gyrovagus, Harel, Henrygb, Homemadefading, Howicus, Htra0497, Hu12, Husond, J JMesserly, JMBleicher, JTSchreiber, JabberWok, Jamesmdavisson,Jay-Sebastos, JayJasper, Jefgodesky, Jessicarleader, Jhnydgrsly, John, Johnbod, Johnuniq, Juxtatype, Kallisue, KatCray, Khalad, Klemen Kocjancic, Klhuillier, Libroman, MMPeñuelas,Marasandra, Mardhil, Mark Arsten, Martha p, Mato, Maunus, Mboverload, Mdeclara, Meese, Mercurywoodrose, Michaplot, Mjmoser007, Mmeyers, Moncrief, MoxRox, MrOllie, Myasuda, Nep,Neutrality, Nikkimaria, Nitroleviathan, Npeters22, Ombudsman, Parthasarathy.kr, Pburka, Peregrine981, Peter G Werner, Peter Karlsen, Petersam, Petrb, Piano non troppo, Pigman, Plot Spoiler,Podruznik, Ragesoss, Redthoreau, RekishiEJ, Reuben, Reywas92, Rich Farmbrough, Rjwilmsi, Rrburke, Scewing, Scott5834, Sentience, SpencerThiel, Stbalbach, Steven Walling, Svetovid,Syosset, T@nn, Talheres, Tamfang, Tdavey, TheParanoidOne, Tjmayerinsf, TravisNygard, Trishfoto, Truetom, VioletSeraphim, Waacstats, Wideangle, WikipedianMarlith, Xezbeth, Xionbox,Xn4, Yambaram, Yilloslime, Ytrottier, Ĵestro, 153 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Michael Pollan at Yale 1 cropped.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Michael_Pollan_at_Yale_1_cropped.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 Contributors: Michael_Pollan_at_Yale_1.jpg: Ragesoss derivative work: Gobonobo (talk)File:Michael Pollan.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Michael_Pollan.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Max MeyersFile:Michael Pollan at TED.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Michael_Pollan_at_TED.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors: Pierre Omidyar

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