Journalist and college professor Michael Pollan, author of four New York Times best sellers, says he is becoming less of a writer and more of an activist on food policy. Pollan was the star attraction for a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol to unveil an “outsider” farm bill and keynote speaker at a forum afterward to promote a fundamental overhaul of the “obsolete” policy now in place.
“I am here to be more engaged” in food and farm policy, Pollan told reporters. “I plan to stay involved.” Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer, sponsor of the alternative farm bill, credited Pollan for inspiring his interest in food policy.
Pollan may be best-known for his book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” published in 2006. The work blamed U.S. farm subsidies as encouraging over-production of foods, such as corn, that in its many forms contribute to obesity. Two years later, in “In Defense of Food,” he offered a guideline – “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants” – that riled U.S. farm groups, particularly livestock producers.
“This piece of legislation shapes the entire food economy,” said Pollan at the news conference. “The farm bill is, in truth, the health bill.”