Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth6 February 1955
CityLong Island, NY
CountryUnited States of America
want pact all-time
You want to say the thing that will drive everybody in the direction you want to go. But as a writer you have a pact with your readers that you'll be really straight with them at all times.
thinking interesting want
Nutrition science is where surgery was in about 1650, you know, really interesting and promising, but would you want to have them operate on you yet? I don't think so.
strong want claims
If you’re concerned about your health, you should probably avoid products that make health claims. Why? Because a health claim on a food product is a strong indication it’s not really food, and food is what you want to eat
long want junk
Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.
american-educator choice good industrial organic supports
When the choice comes down to industrial organic or local, I opt for the local, because it supports much more than good agricultural practice.
animal answers citizens decisions depending good issue job lists people policy shopping supposed tools values welfare
I don't think it's a journalist's job to issue shopping lists or policy descriptions. We're supposed to show people how the world is, to give them the tools they need to make good decisions as citizens or consumers. Depending on what your values are the environment, your health, animal welfare the answers are going to be different for every person.
american-educator drive farmers growing organic price risk selling start
When Wal-Mart and McDonald's start selling organic food, it will drive down the price to farmers and risk growing a new monoculture.
american-educator figure frontier historical johnny northwest played role turns
It turns out Johnny Appleseed, John Chapman, was a real historical figure who played a very important role in the frontier in the Northwest territory.
american-educator european might power
Without the potato, the balance of European power might never have tilted north.
fundamentals problem economy
We could have a greener economy, even a greener consumer economy by changing the rules - whether it's by taxing carbon or trading carbon, I'm not sure what - but in the end there's just a fundamental problem with the sheer amount we're consuming.
writing trying ordinary
I really try to write as an ordinary person would, not as someone who's too sophisticated about food, or too knowledgeable about things.
character animal people
I work very hard on finding good characters who can explain things to me, and I use them to help tell the story. I organize my pieces not just around people but around animals and plants, energy flows, the path that carbon takes through the food system.
real mean thinking
I really do think that cooking is very important. It's really important for the farmers because it means you're going to be buying real food and not processed food, so that means the farmers will capture more of your food dollar.
hopeful significant percentages
I'm very hopeful that we'll see some change in our food system. I don't know how far we'll go, or how quickly we'll get there, but there is no question that a significant percentage of the American public is dissatisfied with the food system.