Food is life.
Read Michael Pollan’s letter to Obama, our new farmer-in-chief. Eating well is ecologically sound.
The handful of you who follow my photostream on Flickr are aware that I’ve used the visit of my British friends Jane and Philip as an excuse to do a foodie tour of the San Francisco Bay Area. Of course, in a mere five days, we could be scratch the surface.
Michael Pollan’s message rings true. In the past week, we devoured marvellous food and wine, but it wasn’t unhealthy excess. We weren’t chowing down on Southern cuisine (“Give me some more of them deep-fried fat balls.”) His food mantra has become my dietary guideline: “Eat food. Mainly vegetables. Not too much.”
Won’t it be great if the Obama administration can reverse the Supersize McDonaldization of America? Eat carrots, not French fries. Nosh on burritos, not Big Macs. Real food, slow food, local ingredients, tasty yet simple meals: let’s make these the rule rather than the exception.
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Jay, thank you for mentioning Michael Pollan. I’m always happy to see someone in the learning community give support to Michael Pollan. Two reasons (as an instructional designer) I love Pollan: clear language, and actionable behaviors/solutions.
I believe that part of Pollan’s genius is the ability to distill a complex position into a simple and direct message. The mini-manifesto (actually “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”) comes from In Defense of Food, a remarkable book that builds a sound argument while thoughtfully questioning conventional wisdom about the food industry.
I could go on all day about Pollan and how remarkably hopeful and subversive his work is, but I’ll just say that he always provides a great and substantial read.