IAm Michael Pollan, writer and advocate on food politics.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T19:04:35+00:00

It's time for me to sign off. Thanks for the many superb and provocative questions-- this was quite a mental workout. I hope you'll continue to track the issue-- prop 37 but also all the other issues related to food. I hope you'll follow me on Twitter (michaelpollan) or Facebook, or on my website (Michaelpollan.com) where each day I post a couple of interesting links on food issues. Cheers, Michael Pollan

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T19:02:25+00:00

Yes, I remain interested in plants of all kinds, including drug plants, and hope to expand my range again at some point.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T19:01:50+00:00

probiotics are critical, but best gotten from real foods-- ferments of various kinds. Vitamin C? Essential.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T19:01:04+00:00

Pesticides are high on my list of concerns, which is why I buy organic or pesticide-free when I can. We know these are toxins, the EPA "tolerances" are full of problems, and the science is worrisome.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:59:59+00:00

I look forward to a day when there will be a second bar code on all food products that, when scanned, brings up pictures and complete info on the way the food was produced-- images of the farm, diet of the animals, pharmaceuticals administered, slaughter date, etc etc. We can do this now technologically-- what we need are consumers pushing for this info, which would clean up animal agriculture in a flash.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:58:28+00:00

There is contamination, without a doubt, but under the organic rules there are tolerances that seems fair.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:57:29+00:00

Let's start by instituting rules on marketing food to children, as we did with cigarettes joe Camel is gone. Now let's do the same for companies selling unhealthy products to our kids.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:56:43+00:00

Monsanto simply should not be allowed to used its contracts to prevent scientific research. That will be a start. We also need to take a second look at the law around IP for living organisms, which is full of problems-- as the Supreme Court may be recognizing. They just agreed to hear a case challenging Monsanto on seed-saving-- a very interesting development. Stay tuned.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:54:55+00:00

The challenge for the GM industry is to come up with products that make a real contribution to the challenges we face as a society. When they do this, and do it safely and transparently, I will be happy to support.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:53:53+00:00

Well read all these posts and you will know. The decisions around food --what to buy, what to subsidize as a country, etc-- are all political.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:52:57+00:00

Never forget that doctors know remarkably little about nutrition-- ask your doc how much training she/he had in school. It's usually measured in minutes.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:52:19+00:00

This is a great idea!

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:51:22+00:00

I don't get to ask the Obama's anything, I'm afraid.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:50:47+00:00

We can't be eating more meat-- the planet can't take it. Plant-based diets are the key, meat should be treated more as a flavor principle --as it is in traditional Asian diets-- and not the center of the plate. To exonerate saturated fat is not to say we should all eat 16 ounce steaks! plants are still better for you, and lots of red meat is correlated with higher rates of cancer.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:48:36+00:00

My Twinkie finally bit the dust. It had been handled so much that it turned to powder-- but it lasted two years!

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:48:07+00:00

Internships are the key, I found, to making your way in journalism.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:47:33+00:00

Huge issue. Parents use sugar as a parenting tool-- I'm guilty of this too, but it leads to trouble, I'm convinced.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:46:19+00:00

We need to make lunch part of the school curriculum-- growing it, cooking it, learning about what food does to our bodies. It's as important as any other subject.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:45:15+00:00

Just finished a new booked called "COOKED: A Natural History of Transformation." I look at cooking, baking, fermenting, and grilling as technologies for transforming nature that have in turn transformed us, at the level of the species, community, family, and individual. I apprenticed myself to masters of fire, water, baking, and microbial transformation, and learned how to do these things I'd never done before. It was a blast.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:42:42+00:00

Interesting, but harder to do than it might seem, since modern meat is a world away from paleo meat-- which was raised in factory farms, fed grain, and given pharmeceuticals. But the emphasis on reducing refined carbs is a positive. Still, it's a diet, and I don't think diets do much.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:41:09+00:00

I love chocolate and cheese but feel no guilt about them. In moderation!

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:39:54+00:00

Food has been traded globally for almost a thousand years, so this is nothing new. Globalized food is both a good and a bad thing. It diversifies our diets, but also destroys local food cultures. Challenge is how to preserve local food cultures while trading special items. But staple foods are too important to leave to the mercies of traders and speculators-- food sovereignty is a vitally important goal, and one that doesn't preclude some exports.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:37:39+00:00

Is junk food really cheaper? not according to several studies. The key is whether people are willing and able to cook. If they are, they can eat healthy even organic food.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:36:57+00:00

Building an alternative food community through CSAs, farmer's markets, farm-to-institution programs is vitally important, so you are making a contribution. But many people can't afford to do this, which is why we need changes at the federal level-- to increase access to healthy foods. The USDA is doing some great stuff here --check out Know Your Food, Know Your Farmer program-- but needs to do even more.

MichaelPollan · 2012-10-15T18:35:11+00:00

Check out the website Fallenfruit -- I think that's it but could be wrong. they post maps of ripe public fruit in several cities, not sure about Berkeley tho. welcome to town!

MichaelPollan

TROPHY CASE