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!!!

The Most Important Movie of the Year

by: Jill Richardson

Thu May 14, 2009 at 14:08:57 PM PDT

Why was it THAT important? No other film that I can name covers a global crisis of a basic human need in such a compelling, informative, and accurate way. This film is what I had hoped the movie version of Fast Food Nation would have been, except it's twice as good because it threw in The Omnivore's Dilemma too. Together, I consider those two books the Food Bible (old and new testaments, respectively), and now they are available in movie form for all of America to watch.

Warning: Food Police!

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 10:00:00 AM PDT

But tell you what. Rather than having you feel better by lashing out at me while eating shit, I've got a better idea. There's this great website, Eat Well Guide, and it tells you where to get good food near you. You don't have to be afraid of it costing a lot. You see, when you buy food directly from the farmer, the middlemen don't need to take a cut. Right now about 19 cents from every dollar spent on food goes to the farmer. The other 81 cents goes to distributors, retailers, processors, and other middlemen. When you buy directly from the farmer, you can get terrific fresh, local, organic, sustainable, healthy, fair, clean, good (and all of the other adjectives the NY Post apparently dislikes) food for less than you would pay for lower quality food at a store. You'll probably also save some of the money you would otherwise spend at the doctor later in life - and you'll enjoy your food more! I know, it's a crazy idea, but think about it. Seriously. Your anger towards me probably hurts you a lot more than it hurts me. I'm trying to help.

Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Apr 02, 2009 at 10:11:39 AM PDT

• Great news! Baltimore is planting a vegetable garden that is nearly twice the size of the White House garden. The food will go to a local shelter, and Baltimore claims they aren't copying - they had the plans in place long before Michelle Obama announced her garden. (Hat tip Roger Doiron)

• Rolling Stone named Michael Pollan as one of 100 agents of change. He's #69. Hehehehehe.

• Bad news from Ohio. Pro-rbGH advocates won their court case that argued against the legality of labeling milk "rbGH-free." It's been a rough week for rbGH-free labeling, because Kansas has been up to all kinds of anti-labeling mischief too.

• The Atlantic tells about the magic of unheated greenhouses. I'm certainly interested. Even the Amish farm I visited heated its greenhouse when the weather got cold.

• Sustainable Table dishes on the Farm to Cafeteria Conference held in Portland. JayinPortland got to go to some of it, and I'm soooo jealous.

• The New York Times recognizes food deserts.

• Wanna see something really gross? Check out how peeps are made.

• April is Grilled Cheese month according to the LA Times. Hmm. Do they really live only a few hours north of me? Around here I'm getting geared up for stone fruits not grilled cheese :)

• Grist has an article reviewing organic baby food.

• McDonalds might take steps to reduce pesticides in their potatoes. Call me a skeptic, but even though this might be good news it still doesn't make me want to eat their fries.

Multi-Course Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Mar 27, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

• Good news from Starbucks - they are switching suppliers for their ice cream from Dreyers to Unilever, which offers them an rbGH-free line. Also, Tillamook ice cream is now rbGH-free. Hooray!

• Bill Marler talks about painful sex. Ok, that sounded wrong, I think. Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is a type of foodborne disease from eating predatory ocean fish contaminated with ciguatoxins. It's rare, but there was a recent "cluster" of cases, and the patients reported dyspareunia, or painful sex, as a symptom.

Continued...

The Food Movement: Not Just a Bunch of Michael Pollan-Loving Dreamers

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Mar 23, 2009 at 12:27:28 PM PDT

First off, organic CAN feed the world. In fact, the UN recommends that Africa go organic to feed itself. In the NYT article, they quote the National Corn Growers Association saying that organics have lower yields and bla bla bla, but that doesn't make it true. Yet the NYT never refutes the claim.

Second of all, we DO get that it's hard for people to afford good food right now. And you know what? There's an entire side to our movement that the NYT article failed to mention: the food justice/community food security movement. For all of the people out there who are telling us to join Slow Food and buy $4/lb heirloom grapes, there are others who are working day and night to make sure that all people can eat well, not just the rich.

And the externalities? They matter. The article says:

Although some people argue that there are hidden costs to cheap food, from environmental damage caused by factory farms and fertilizer runoff to the health costs associated with eating highly processed, calorie-laden food, the fact remains that commercially produced food is relatively inexpensive.

"The idea of the true cost of food?" Mr. Hollender asks. "That's the last thing consumers want to hear right now."

Well you know what? If the people cannot afford to think about these things, then that's the government's job. And that's what the food movement has been trying to say.  

Lazy Sunday Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Mar 22, 2009 at 04:51:38 AM PDT

• Mark Bittman shares a recipe for oven baked steel-cut oats. Yum! I'm trying this.

• Need more details about the new White House garden? How about a map and pics of the groundbreaking.

• I have a new goal for my food career. Check this out - tourists to Tuscany will pay big bucks for the privilege of cooking with Michael Pollan. Oh yeah, after my book becomes a New York Times bestseller (lol) I want to be invited as the celebrity guest to an Italian food resort!

• Natasha Chart reports on a super-sweet bill in the Montana state government that forces biotech companies to obtain a farmers' permission before sampling crops on their land. Nice! It's already passed the House... just has to get past the Senate now.

• Civil Eats features a fantastic piece on farming in Namibia.

• How Much Water Do You Really Use? This site rocks! Did you know it uses 37 gallons of water to make a cup of coffee, 33 for a soda, and only 9 for a cup of tea?  But all that ain't nothin' compared to the 634 gallons required for a hamburger!

• A gardener describes her garden library. If you're looking for some good books on gardening, this might be the place to go for suggestions.

• Scientific American weighs in about MRSA on hog farms with their article "Our Sick Farms, Our Infected Food."

• Marion Nestle comments on Disney characters advertising food. I'm with her - let's keep our cartoons and our food separate. The last two pics in the post make a very clear point - Sponge Bob hawking baby carrots AND Burger King. If we're teaching our kids to choose the food that Sponge Bob eats, like carrots, does that mean that Burger King is good for you too?

• Wow! Slow Food and Michael Pollan met with the CDC! If only the freakin' House Ag Committee was so receptive to their message...

• Marion Nestle reports on the USDA's plan to test ground beef at packing plants 4 times a month (PDF). I like this idea... sort of. Four times a month seems pretty weak to me, considering the volume of ground beef one of these plants can make in a single day. I'd be very happy if the proposal was to test the meat 4 times a DAY instead.

• As if you didn't have enough to look for on food labels already, now you might start seeing a sustainable water certification. Nice idea, but why can't we just drink the stuff out of our taps?

Center for Consumer Freedom Sends Michael Pollan Their Rules

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Mar 18, 2009 at 12:00:00 PM PDT

Recently, Michael Pollan asked readers for their food rules. I can give you my #1 rule easily: I won't eat anything if I can't identify a plant or an animal (preferably a plant) that it came from. And high fructose corn syrup doesn't count even though I know it came from corn. But CCF decided they would have a laugh and send THEIR food rules in to Michael Pollan. I've included them below, along with 9 other food rules of my own.

George Will Hearts Michael Pollan

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 02:01:13 AM PDT

Corn, which covers 125,000 square miles of America, about the size of New Mexico, fattens 100 million beef cattle, and at least that many bipeds. Much of the river of cheap corn becomes an ocean of high-fructose corn syrup, which by 1984 was sweetening Coke and Pepsi. Disposing of the corn also requires passing it through animals' stomachs. Corn, together with pharmaceuticals and other chemicals -- a Pollan axiom: "You are what what you eat eats, too" -- has made it profitable to fatten cattle on feedlots rather than grass, cutting by up to 75 percent the time from birth to slaughter. Eating corn nourished by petroleum-based fertilizers, a beef cow consumes almost a barrel of oil in its lifetime.

Well, I'm glad George Will has good reading material, at least. I'll be interested to see what kind of conservative spin he might put on this in the future.

Is the Chicago Tribune the New Corporate Mouthpiece?

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Feb 19, 2009 at 14:15:18 PM PST

There are two important things a reader of this op end should know. One is the background of the Center for Consumer Freedom. Once you know that, the "facts" cited in the op ed are almost secondary, but just for the sake of setting the record straight, the second are the real facts and how they stack up against the fake ones that CCF likes to use.

Foodie Heroes Wes, Wendell, and Michael Speak Out

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Jan 29, 2009 at 15:18:41 PM PST

We... need a national agricultural policy that is based upon ecological principles. We need a 50-year farm bill that addresses forthrightly the problems of soil loss and degradation, toxic pollution, fossil-fuel dependency and the destruction of rural communities.

Somehow I think making a farm bill last 10 times longer is far less important than the other changes they call for - making our ag policy actually address the problems we face.

And as long as we're talking about podcasts of foodie heroes, how about a little Michael Pollan for dessert?

Liberal Oasis Talks About Food!

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Jan 03, 2009 at 14:39:23 PM PST

Anyway, when I sent Bill an email, he replied by suggesting we talk on his radio show this week about the Vilsack pick. Bill may not be exclusively devoted to the issue of food like I am, but he was astute to pick up on the same idea that both Michael Pollan and John Nichols alluded to... it's a BIG DEAL that the Sec of Ag pick has stirred up so much controversy among non-farmers!

So here's the radio show, in three flavors:
MP3
RSS feed
iTunes

I also should have mentioned the 60,000+ people who have petitioned Obama to pick a friend of sustainable food for Sec of Ag, and now for any of the under secretary positions at USDA. It's not too late to sign the petition - please head over there and sign if you haven't yet.

My Interview with Michael Pollan and an AMAZING Grassroots Activist Named David

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Dec 16, 2008 at 09:49:08 AM PST

What makes David unique from so many other Americans who believed in Obama's message of change is that he started a grassroots petition that made it all the way to the New York Times, and now Obama's transition team is taking notice. He's managed to get sign-ons from ALL (literally) of the top names in sustainable food, including NYT bestselling author and columnist Michael Pollan (who is so popular that he can even count Barack Obama among his fans!).

First, sign the petition and then read the interviews below - including statements from Eric Schlosser and Marion Nestle!

Obama's 'Secretary of Food'?

by: teacherken

Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 13:22:07 PM PST

Somehow I feel as if someone else should be writing this, but I am still up.  And when I read a column that begins

As Barack Obama ponders whom to pick as agriculture secretary, he should reframe the question. What he needs is actually a bold reformer in a position renamed "secretary of food."

But he doesn't have to.  Nicholas Kristof grew up on a farm.  And he has read, and talked with, key figures, such as Michael Pollan.

if you want, you can just go read Kristof and ignore me.  Or you can continue below the fold while I try to further entice you to read him, and - uh oh - offer a few additional thoughts of my own?  Really?  On food? You betcha.