Without the potato, the balance of European power might never have tilted north. Michael Pollan More Quotes by Michael Pollan More Quotes From Michael Pollan We all have different priorities. There's no one single set of ethical rules. Michael Pollan ethical priorities different The food system is a very complex beast. There are people who are going to get their food at Wal-Mart or at Safeway; they're not going to the farmers' market. Those people need choices too. Michael Pollan choices people needs We're always projecting our moral categories on things. I think that's inevitable. But capitalism places no particular value on morality. Morality in the market is enforced by contract and regulation and law, because morality is understood to be in conflict with the motive force of greed and accumulation. Michael Pollan greed law thinking There are fundamental tensions between the biological reality of the planet and the economic reality. To some extent you can adapt the economy, create a new set of rules and incentives to send it down a better track, but finally people in the first world are going to have to consume a whole lot less. Michael Pollan track reality people Even people who like the kind of food on offer, are coming to recognize that eating from this food chain is not conducive to good health. Michael Pollan kind eating people I get letters from classes all the time. Say it's assigned in someone's 8th grade class, and the teacher asks everyone to write a letter to me about their impressions and what they learned. So, it's incredibly gratifying to hear. Michael Pollan writing class teacher The other way that you democratize the food movement is through the public school system. If you can pay enough for the school lunch system so that it can actually be cooked and not just microwaved, so that these schools can buy local food, fresh food, because right now it's all frozen and processed, you will improve the health of the students, you will improve the health of the local economy, and you will have better performing students. Michael Pollan frozen lunch school We do not subsidize organic food. We subsidize these four crops - five altogether, but one is cotton - and these are the building blocks of fast food. One of the ways you democratize healthy food is you support healthy food. Michael Pollan support block healthy Much more has to be done to democratize the food movement. One of the reasons that healthy food is more expensive than unhealthy food is that the government supports unhealthy food and does very little to support healthy food, whether you mean organic or grass-fed or whatever. Michael Pollan support government mean I realize that at a certain point if we're going to change our food system, it's going to be the next generation that's going to be critical. This generation is very interested in food issues, very concerned about things like animal welfare and the impact of the food system on the environment. Michael Pollan impact issues animal We used to eat economically. One of the things that happened is that we lost the cultural skills that used to allow people to eat well cheaply. For example making three or four meals from a chicken, rather than buying chicken breasts. Michael Pollan skills example people Meat is a tremendous environmental challenge. It contributes enormous amounts of greenhouse gas, especially beef eating. Michael Pollan environmental meat challenges There are certain products that it's worth buying organic just because the alternatives have so much pesticide. There's a list of the dirty dozen that you can get off the Web. Strawberries, potatoes. A handful of crops that have very high pesticide residues if you don't buy organic. If you eat that a lot, that's a good place to invest. Michael Pollan dozen alternatives dirty The only one I have any trust in is storytelling - there's a couple I have a lot of trust in. Michael Pollan storytelling couple I don't like writing as an expert. I like writing as an amateur. I like writing as an idiot. It's much more fun to start in ignorance. Michael Pollan ignorance writing fun People who snack sometimes sometimes eat kind of thoughtlessly and end up eating a lot more. But in principle, it's a really good idea if you can exert the kind of discipline needed. Michael Pollan snacks discipline ideas I'm kind of a homebody, and the rhythm of my thinking and work is starting at home, going out and coming back, bringing back news, bringing back information, applying it. Michael Pollan going-out home thinking People eating the western diet of heavily processed food, of lots of meat and added sugar and added fat, and very little whole grains and fruits and vegetables.Populations who eat that way have seriously high incidences of chronic diseases. Michael Pollan meat vegetables people There's always a tension in my world between the pragmatic and the practical and the theoretical. I have a very theoretical turn of mind, but I also like to test things in place. Michael Pollan tests mind world Students are very engaged by the issues, and it's not surprising because food choices are one of the few powers a child has. Michael Pollan issues choices children
