Food Fight!

by: Andy Anderson

Tue Feb 23, 2010 at 16:33:46 PM PST

The star of the film is the Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse, and its founder and owner Alice Waters. During the riotous Sixties, she was appalled by the poor diets of her fellow protestors, and started the restaurant to provide high quality food in a "dinner party" environment. Over time she developed her own sources of local and organic food, avoiding more commercial sources in an effort to provide the most delicious food possible.

A number of other chefs are interviewed, including Wolfgang Puck and Ann Cooper (recently described here). The rise of farmers markets in many cities, as a source of local fruit, vegetables, et al. for both restaurants and individuals, is also an important story line.

Several organic farmers make an appearance, and describe their struggles to do more than produce low-cost and high-calorie commodity food stuffs. Some time is also spent recounting recent attempts to reform U.S. agriculture, focusing on Congressman Ron Kind (D-WI/La Crosse).

The movie also documents the efforts of MacArthur Fellow Will Allen of Growing Power in Milwaukee, and his daughter Alice in Chicago, to provide good-quality, low-cost food to the residents of inner city neighborhoods with few options besides the local mini-mart full of junk food and fast-food restaurants. The new wave of schools growing their own gardens is also highlighted.

Other interviewees describing the big picture include Michael Pollan of Omnivore's Dilemma fame, and academic Marion Nestle.

All in all, Food Fight is a thoroughly enjoyable film that uses humor to chronicle the absurdity of our food system and emphasizes the slow but revolutionary changes taking place at its margins. My one complaint about the film is that it completely ignores the parallel rise of food cooperatives as a source of good, whole, organic, and local food, an important complement to farmers markets in both availability and necessary staples such as grains. The same rebellious spirit embodied by Alice Waters gave rise to hundreds of small co-ops across the country, so I was quite surprised that they were not even mentioned. It seems that even they are still on the periphery in some parts of our alternative food economy.

Food Fight has been making the rounds of various film festivals, but will receive its theatrical debut on March 24 in Los Angeles, and will hopefully follow soon at a theater near you.

Pollan's Folly in a Nutshell: "Food Inc.," "Fresh" and Beyond

by: Brad Wilson

Wed Jan 13, 2010 at 11:38:33 AM PST

I'm picking on Pollan here (ie. folly) in the spirit of Noam Chomsky, who often chooses the strongest opponent or argument to debunk.  Pollan clearly is doing a lot of things right.  That's a given for me which I rarely expand upon.  He almost gets this issue right.  Bottom line?  Pollan just ends up siding with Cargill and ADM (see quote below, and then my analysis) as a sort of default policy position.  He leads most others in the food movement, bringing a huge load of folks way up, almost to the peak of the mountain, . . . but then he fails to take the final step and, like Sisyphus, it all goes rolling back down to the valley and down into the depths of the dark canyon (as in food movement, mainline church, progressive positions on the 2008 farm bill) of inadvertent support for multi billions for the giant agribusiness beneficiaries.

Now, Pollan can often be quoted against himself.  The Omnivore's Dilemma is a 450 page book in which he talks briefly about the farm bill here and there, and here and there, and here and there.  He'll talk one way for a while and then say, well, actually that's not really true the way it sounds.  That's usually good.  These are dilemmas that are either reconciled fairly well (as I'm arguing here and elsewhere) or that digress into negantropic vicious circles, as in the 1996, 2002 and 2008 farm bills, or that do the latter in a "green" way, as also in those farm bills.

Actually I spoke to Pollan about this very matter when he was in Iowa City a year or two ago and I thought he was on board.  I must have been wrong, according to the evidence, (the quotes,) I've presented below.

Job Opening: Blogospheric Change for Food Justice: No Pay

by: Brad Wilson

Wed Jan 13, 2010 at 04:53:35 AM PST

We've heard similar things about video.  A video from an ordinary person can suddenly go viral.

Recently someone suggested to me through my YouTube channel that Twitter was the place to be:  "I recently came across your zmag blog .... Much of the way that discussions about food/ag are getting moved into the mainstream is via twitter....  the tech has shifted."  It's hard to keep up.

Of course, we've also heard that information on the internet can be unreliable.  It doesn't have the standards of scientific scholarship, or even of the mainstream media of the past.  Information can go viral AND be false, half true and/or technically true but misleading.

So how does this all play out for farm and food justice work within these domains?

To Pollan: Farm Bills Were Never Quaint, Antidrama

by: Brad Wilson

Sun Jan 10, 2010 at 14:43:33 PM PST

As a result, Pollan predicted, like many others, that the 2008 farm bill process might well be different, as a result of these important new players becoming involved, along with that very important group, "eaters."  (He leaves out that "quaint" group, farmers.)  Pollan's statement reminds me of the North Carolina "Water Keeper" who came into Iowa some years back predicting that some how shot lawyers were going to get rid of hog factories in short order.

Well, it didn't turn out that way (in either case), which certainly didn't surprise me, because Pollan's views of both the farm bill and the movements were way off the mark.  That's how it looks from where I stand.

To Pollanate a Berry

by: citisven

Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 14:50:16 PM PST

This was Wendell Berry's night, the 75-year old agrarian, author and voice of stewardship who had traveled all the way from his Kentucky farm to share his eloquence, humor, and wisdom with an appreciative audience at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. It's impossible to list all the books, essays and poems Mr. Berry has written or to do justice in words to the impact he has had on the current renaissance of agrarian awakenings from budding farmers markets to a White House garden, so I will just relay some choice quotes that I hastily scribbled in the dark theater.    

Why are (some) farmers afraid of Michael Pollan?

by: jgoodman

Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 19:34:31 PM PDT

Advocates of large scale agriculture see Pollan as the enemy, they believe he stands against everything they see as the future of agriculture. Pollan 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".

The Palin/Biden Debate, Re-enacted

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Sep 25, 2009 at 23:27:51 PM PDT

My goal tonight was a simple one: to come up here and at no point seem like a condescending, ego-maniacal bully. and I'll be honest: I think I nailed it. There were moments when I wanted to say, "This lady's a dummy!" But I didn't.

Michael Pollan nailed it too. This cute, cheerleadery, young girl spouted off every single Big Ag talking point in the book. (I kept expecting her to start winking, Sarah Palin-style.) The last thing he could do was pick a fight with a student. That would turn into an ugly incident that would make national headlines. The many Farm Bureau members in the audience would make sure of it. His response to the student was nothing short of brilliant.

(Just a caveat here: Maybe Pollan didn't think she was a dummy. I don't want to put my words in his mouth. He was incredibly respectful to her, and for all I know, he thought she had something valuable to say. Maybe he was impressed that a student had the courage to stand up to a national celebrity like himself.)

Come See Me in Wisconsin! (And See Michael Pollan)

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Sep 22, 2009 at 13:07:22 PM PDT

Afterwards: Anyone else up for beer at the Great Dane? Email me if you want to make plans.

Friday, Sep 25:
3:30pm: Michael Pollan panel discussion at the Wisconsin Union Theater. I don't know if tickets are needed and/or available.

5:30pm: Dinner at King of Falafel. Let me know if you plan to be there in case I need to make reservations.

7pm: I'll be speaking at Rainbow Bookstore.

9pm: More beer, if anyone's up for it. After the booksigning, we can wander over to the Dane together.

Saturday, Sep 26:
6am: Dane County Farmers Market opens. This is - in my opinion - the best farmers' market in the country.

9am: I'll be doing a booksigning at the Food for Thought Festival, which is directly adjacent to the Dane County Farmers Market.

10am: Michael Pollan speaks at the Food for Thought Festival

11am: Michael Pollan booksigning at the Food for Thought Festival

Michael Pollan on Health Care Reform

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Sep 10, 2009 at 10:44:23 AM PDT

The moment these new [health care reform] rules take effect, health insurance companies will promptly discover they have a powerful interest in reducing rates of obesity and chronic diseases linked to diet. A patient with Type 2 diabetes incurs additional health care costs of more than $6,600 a year; over a lifetime, that can come to more than $400,000. Insurers will quickly figure out that every case of Type 2 diabetes they can prevent adds $400,000 to their bottom line. Suddenly, every can of soda or Happy Meal or chicken nugget on a school lunch menu will look like a threat to future profits.

When health insurers can no longer evade much of the cost of treating the collateral damage of the American diet, the movement to reform the food system - everything from farm policy to food marketing and school lunches - will acquire a powerful and wealthy ally, something it hasn't really ever had before.

In other words, Pollan is FOR health care reform, but he thinks its not enough. He calls our food system "the elephant in the room" that is harming our health and raising health care costs. He points out that the government is on the brink of subsidizing both the causes of and the care for Type 2 diabetes.

The good news, according to Pollan, is that once we DO change the rules for the insurance industry, once they have to actually pay for the cost of care for sick patients, they will realize that good food is their friend. More good food (or less junk) = healthier patients = more profits for the insurance industry. So if and when that happens, will they get behind major reform of the food system? One can only hope.

I'm thrilled Pollan is saying this. It's more or less what I've been saying for a while... only I don't get to publish op eds in the New York Times. Thank goodness somebody with that kind of clout and national platform is speaking up!

No Time to Cook - Too Busy Watching Food Network!

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

Americans love to watch other people cook, but we aren't so keen on cooking ourselves. And then there's the dumbing down of the verb "to cook." My first time living on my own after college, I asked my room mates if they cooked and one said "I just eat cereal, but Lindsey cooks." Later, while I was making a chickpea curry for myself (yes, from scratch... real scratch, not a Trader Joes mix), Lindsey saw me and remarked "Oh, you're REALLY cooking!" I wondered about it because I thought she supposedly cooked too - until I found out that her definition of cooking was removing the bag of French fries from the freezer and putting some on a cookie sheet in the oven. Oh boy.

Pollan includes a quote in his article from a food mrketing expert who thinks the trend towards convenience foods is irreversible:

"Here's an analogy," Balzer said. "A hundred years ago, chicken for dinner meant going out and catching, killing, plucking and gutting a chicken. Do you know anybody who still does that? It would be considered crazy! Well, that's exactly how cooking will seem to your grandchildren: something people used to do when they had no other choice. Get over it."

Pollan somewhat brilliantly compares how cooking show watchers of decades past actually learned how to cook from Julia Child whereas now, nobody learns jack squat from watching Iron Chef. And Food Network does give its stars an excellent platform to market their stuff.

But is this really the end of cooking? The same weekend Pollan's article was published, my city held urban homesteading workshops that were so popular people were crowded in the doorways, struggling to hear. We learned how to make hot sauce, kimchi and sauerkraut, cheese, and wheat flour - all from scratch. Real scratch, as Pollan would call it. Maybe there IS hope after all.

Michael Pollan on Bill Maher

by: Jill Richardson

Sat May 30, 2009 at 21:37:41 PM PDT

Maher: We can't have [single payor putting insurance companies out of business]! Health care is the biggest industry we've got. We need sick people and the food companies are doing their part to help.

Oh yes, they put the time in the lab to find out just how much fat, sugar, and salt to load into a Happy Meal to make it more like crack. Do you know that even our baby foods are now up to one third sugar? Only Americans could develop comfort food for somebody who's already eating off a tit. I mean, what kind of people hooks babies on sugar? It's not a mystery why even one in five four-year-olds is obese. Four-year-olds! The elephant in the room is your kid. Not only can't Johnny read, he can't see his dick. If Al-Qaeda slipped something into our food that did that to us, well we would torture some Arabs and keep on eating.

Pot Luck: Pullman Takes Back Pollan, Marler Money Matters

by: JayinPortland

Wed May 27, 2009 at 19:03:24 PM PDT

But [WSU President Elson] Floyd announced Wednesday that a private donation has brought the program back to life. The money comes from Bill Marler, an attorney who served on the WSU Board of Regents from 1998 to 2004.

Bill Marler has this to say at his blog.

(h/t to La Vida Locavorean rossl, who mentioned it here before I even got the Food Democracy Now and Comfood emails...)

What's on your mind?  Use this diary as an open thread...

UPDATE: Just to be sure we portray this story accurately, please note that Food Democracy Now also played a significant role in the overturning of WSU's decision.

Beating the Food Stamps Challenge

by: Jill Richardson

Mon May 25, 2009 at 18:30:38 PM PDT

Is this the key to eating well for actual food stamp recipients? I'm not convinced. Her methods involve little money but they require transportation, skill, cooking equipment, and food storage - all things that somebody living on a low income may or may not have. As Adam Drewnowki, professor of epidemiology and director of the University of Washington's Center for Obesity Research, puts it:

"When you suggest that people buy rice, pasta, and beans," he says, "you presuppose that they have resources for capital investment for future meals"-since these healthy staples come in large bags-"a kitchen, pots, pans, utensils, gas, electricity, a refrigerator, a home with rent paid, the time to cook. Those healthy rice and beans can take hours; another class bias is that poor people's time is worthless. So this is all about resources that middle-class people take so much for granted that they do not give them another thought. Not everybody has them."

On the other hand, he says, "buying a doughnut for dinner does not involve any of those middle-class resources. You pay 55 cents for this meal only and there you are. Yes, rice would be cheaper if only people had the time and were not working two jobs on minimum wage."

However, for those of us with the time, kitchens, etc, she's got some great ideas. I've recently taken to making my own jam, yogurt, and granola. The jam is a big moneysaver because I can buy bruised organic fruit for next to nothing. The granola costs more because walnuts ain't cheap. But they're worth it.

One last point I'd like to make here is that the woman in the article misrepresents Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma and ABC does not correct her statement. She says:

The book, she says, made one point that bothered her -- that poor people should shop the grocery store's middle aisles, where processed food reigns, to get the most calories for their money.

Pollan's response was:

I said that it is rational for the poor to shop the middle aisles because, under our subsidy system, they can get more calories per dollar buying processed food, compared to fresh produce. (a dollar buys 1250 calories buying chips, versus 250 calories of carrots), but I argued we need to change this situation, to make the healthy calories more competitive with the unhealthy ones.

The Truth About Food is "Too Controversial" For Washington State U.

by: Jill Richardson

Thu May 21, 2009 at 15:45:53 PM PDT

Now, WSU will not distribute the book, supposedly due to financial concerns and cost. Instead, professors are simply encouraged to incorporate the text into their curricula.

However, the announcement that the book would not be distributed at summer orientation came seven weeks after the book was chosen. In the meantime, the university purchased nearly 4,000 copies.

"Unless they wanted to have a big book-burning in the middle of Terrell Mall, I don't see how they intended to save money by making this decision," said Jeff Sellen, a general education professor and member of the common reading selection committee.

This is not a problem limited to one university. Take, for example, the President of South Dakota University, who also happens to be on the board of directors at Monsanto. Cornell and the University of California have both taken money from Monsanto, but having your president on their board of directors takes things to a whole new level. And clearly, as you can see at Washington State, the interests of the faculty do translate into the education of the students.

A Triple Dose of Michael Pollan

by: Jill Richardson

Fri May 15, 2009 at 10:08:33 AM PDT

My favorite new Pollan-ism from these interviews is his advice "Don't eat anything you've seen advertised" and "Don't eat anything with a health claim." Healthy foods don't have ad budgets or packaging. In the past, Pollan told his fans "Don't eat anything with more than 5 ingredients," and then Haagen-Dazs came out with 5 ingredient ice cream. He told us to avoid HFCS and now junk food makers are giving us "healthy" versions of their junk made with (massive amounts of) real sugar. I like the new advice. If they junk food makers want to catch up to Pollan on this one, the only way they can do so is by dropping all of their health claims and ending all of their food advertising.

Another great point from this latest batch of interviews? Think of what it means for a product to stay fresh for 6 months on the shelf. There are no nutrients in there that any bacteria, mold, fungus, etc, has any interest whatsoever in eating. Shouldn't that tell us something? Better yet, Pollan told Colbert that the difference between corn and HFCS is like the difference between coca leaves and crack. Ha!!!