The New York Times recently published an open letter by Michael Pollan to the next “Farmer in Chief”.  It begins:

It may surprise you to learn that among the issues that will occupy much of your time in the coming years is one you barely mentioned during the campaign: food.

Although we don’t think about it too often, our food production system is inextricably linked with health, climate change, use/dependence on fossil fuels and economics.

Some of my favorite points in the letter:

• Cheap food  that is highly processed, high fat and/or highly sweetened has hidden costs in an increase in partially preventable  illnesses, such as obesity, heart disease, type II diabetes.
• New policies in food subsidies should promote healthy food choices, local economies, diversity and quality over quantity (as measured in calories).
• Conservation is not an either/or proposition relative to food production.  We can produce food in ways that have minimal, or even beneficial effects on the environment.
• Farmland preservation and support of more of our population making a living at agriculture are critical to a healthy food system.  This means training and incentivising young farmers.
• Decentralizing food production will get more people in touch with where their food comes from.  Consumers that really understand food production are less likely to make unreasonable legislative demands and more reasonable diet choices.
• The new first family should establish their own “Victory Garden” on the South lawn of the White House.
• Lunch needs to be an educational part of the school day.  We need to raise kids that can make good food choices and  know how to cook.

We touched on this same topic earlier in this blog.  Most of all, I agree with Pollan that the food crisis paired with our energy costs presents an exceptional opportunity for real reform.

1. Sara Says:
   October 16th, 2008 at 8:41pm

   Today I got a (mass) e-mail from the American Farmland Trust.

   “While our stance is different on some topics, we applaud Mr. Pollan for highlighting the work that must be done to ensure a healthy future for farms, food and communities. “

   Read the letter. There’s some thought-provoking things in there.



2. Suzanne Says:
   October 20th, 2008 at 10:05am

   Thanks for mentioning this. I will say that I’m not sure Michael Pollan is the best spokesperson to frame food issues for our next president, but some of this stuff is important.



3. Jennifer Says:
   October 23rd, 2008 at 9:05pm

   I agree with Suzanne, Pollan does sometimes make good points but he also makes a lot of broad sweeping generalizations about agriculture. He also tends to want to blame obesity solely on high nutrient food density and totally ignores the fact that our lifestyles have become more sedentary over the last 50 years. Ignoring that as a factor is ridiculous.

   Poor city planning where suburban dwellers have to drive everywhere have higher incidents of people being obese that places that have neighborhoods that have services in walking distance and a culture of walking more. Entertainment is also a lot more sedentary amongst the urban public as well, yet Pollan ignores all of this and want to place all the blame for obesity on cheap industrially produced processed food.

   In the end there is plenty of healthy fresh food out there and there’s nothing wrong with processed food if eaten in moderation. People just need to take responsibility for themselves, their eating habits and their activity levels.



4. Lisa Says:
   November 4th, 2008 at 12:50pm

   I think there is room for reform, but the thought of Michael Pollan leading the way freaks me out. He is a gifted writer and has passionate followers; but his dismissal of modern ag practices (ie large scale production and biotech crops) is unrealistic in the face of the food prodcution challenges we (the world) face. According to the FAO, we have to produce as much food by 2050 as we have produced IN TOTAL in the past 10,000 years. Just isn’t possible to do so if we limit ourselves to organic, slow food, or local production. There’s room enough, and need enough, to embrace all food production methods.