day 24 of the 30 day book challenge

Day 24. A book that you wish more people would’ve read

Michael Pollan is one of my favorite people, writers, journalists & food activists. He's written books–from talking about his experience trying to grow weed & potatoes, having his own Thoreau-ian experience & changing what he eats.

He started out as a journalist who just happened to be a garden. Now, he's an authority–the strongest voice of the movement to start knowing your food & its sources/ingredients again. "The Omnivore's Dilemma" launched him into the national spotlight, & he's since been talking all over, writing more & narrating one of my favorite documentaries.

I found Pollan while researching my big journalism project during my second year of college–write a really, really long paper about a public policy question. Mine: Should the government allow us to continue with destructive genetic mutations & industrial farming that are, in the end, harming our environment, food supplies, water supplies & diet? (Now, it was a journalism course. I framed it a BIT more objectively than that at the time.) I haven't let this cause go since. Neither has he.

Though "The Omnivore's Dilemma" was his greatest success, I don't want to recommend it for a first read. It can seem too didactic & snobby for those of us that still only have the budget for Wal*Mart & imported goods smothered in chemicals. (Though, if we're honest, most local corn would be smothered in chemicals, too.)

Instead, I suggest "In Defense of Food," Pollan's next book that was, in a sense, a response to the response to "The Omnivore's Dilemma." It says, "Hey. This is our situation. This is what's happening to our food, & we can't all change everything at once." He then walks you through ways you can change your diet–new ways to start looking at your diet to add or subract foods–in a way that's inspiring. The inspiring bit is important, because I know I'm not the only one that could read a book like this & leave feeling like a failure.

Before you start judging this book by its topic, I want to promise something. I promise that you'll learn something. I promise that it is possible to make changes to your diet that brings your food closer to home. I promise that you'll look at Wal*Mart differently. I promise that a small group of people in your community, no matter where you are, is working on increasing accessibility to locally-grown food; you can find them.

Pollan's argument is that over the past few decades, the amount of money each family is willing to pay for food (versus furniture, clothes, travel...) is disproportionately low. We NEED to be willing to spend more for good food, to support a local structure & to SUPPORT our bodies with fewer chemicals & more nutrients. I know. It already sounds overwhelming. So let Pollan walk you through it, because we can all make small changes together.

I truly love this guy. Listen to his small TED talk to see what he's like before reading:









Enjoy what you're reading? I'd love to know that we're on track. Click Follow on the right side of the screen to stick with us.