michael pollan quotes in defense of food

“Grilled salmon, with a cold salad of farro, asparagus, mushrooms and fresh peas. The 58-year-old Long Island native is the author of four bestsellers: Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual (2010) In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto (2008) The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006) and The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World (2001). The Pollans-Michael his spouse, landscape painter Judith Belzer and teenage son Isaac-“eat pretty simply” (the meal prep is 45 minutes or less on weeknights) and the family cooks at home “more nights than not,” he told Moment magazine. He enjoys fish, leafy greens and whole grains, not feedlot meat or “tomatoes that have been in the refrigerator.” Pollan is a devotee of farmers markets (in his case, the Thursday Market in North Berkeley) and CSAs. Pollan’s onstage conversation at the Vet’s Auditorium, moderated by Beth Ruyak of Capital Public Radio’s Insight program, will be followed by audience questions and a book signing of Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, his latest cookbook. Pollan plans to break bread with some nearby farmers, along with some notable locals including BriarPatch and Ensemble Designs, which has its own in-house kitchen “where customers share a meal” and even a cookbook. “Many of our customers are avid supporters.” “We owe a debt of gratitude to Michael for the work he’s done,” says Alan Haight, owner of Riverhill Farm, whose produce is sold at the BriarPatch and Nevada City Farmers Market. It exemplifies the growing food sustainability movement in our region. On November 8, Pollan is speaking at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Grass Valley, an event sponsored by The Center for the Arts and BriarPatch Co-op. “He thinks about the ethical bonds that connect our bodies, farms and food,” writes Alice Waters in Time magazine.

Examples of that shared philosophy include Placer County Real Food from Farmers Markets, the regional cookbook by Joanne Neft, founder of the Foothill Farmers Market and Mountain Mandarin Festival, and local chef Laura Kenny.

Pollan’s views are shared by many others in our local food community and have helped it grow. In college, we shopped for food where he often shops (Berkeley Bowl and Monterey Market, for example). Pollan is now a journalism professor at UC Berkeley, our alma mater. We also write about his food philosophies: The importance of a shared meal, for example. We often feature his quotes in our magazine, such as “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”

WE ARE LONGTIME FANS OF BESTSELLING food author and activist Michael Pollan.

Michael pollan quotes in defense of food