1/24/2012

Big Man Comes to Small Campus

Seats were filled in the auditorium of Widener University, a small private university in Chester, PA, this past Monday for a lecture by Michael Pollan. Michael Pollan is one of the most dominant authors in the food industry with four New York Times bestselling books. He is also an activist, a journalist and a professor at UC Berkeley. He has received many acknowledgments and awards, not to mention, he was named in the world’s top 100 influential people of 2010 in Time Magazine.
His four bestselling books are The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual. His books and articles all focus on the idea that both culture and nature intersect on our plates and in our environment. He stresses that with very conflicting and confusing health advice all over the internet and news, we should trust the advice of our grandparents. His newest book, “Food Rules: Illustrated Version,” has vibrant illustrations and 19 new personal policies submitted by readers. My favorite is, “Place a bouquet of flowers on the table and everything will taste twice as good.” It is an easily read book to keep in the kitchen that family and friends can share and enjoy. He promotes a healthier and happier relationship to food, which is essential in life.

In his lecture he talked about The Farm Bill, a large bill that congress passes every five years. This year, it is up for renewal. Many people are unaware of this bill and overlook the fact that this bill affects all of our food. The current food policy is being challenged by a group of Senate and House agriculture committees who want to cut $23 billion on programs related to organic farming. Michael Pollan is encouraging everyone to take action. He thinks everyone should call leaders of the House and Senate, meet their local farmers, explore programs and review the history of the farm bill (For more information, click here.) At the end of the lecture, someone asked him, how to stay healthy when on the road. Michael Pollan is constantly traveling, he is in Missouri today. He said that people should avoid meat in airports, stick with vegetables and have oatmeal for breakfast in hotels. This is definitely a diet to stick to when on the road. However, it’s going to be hard to resist all of the billboards promoting McDonald’s hamburgers along the highways.
 

Mr. Pollan is one of seven scheduled speakers for this season’s Philadelphia Speaker Series, running from September 2011 through April 2012. The event is very popular, tickets range in price from $245-$375. With more than 35,000 likes on his Facebook homepage, more than 128,500 followers on his Twitter and many college appearances, he is certainly influential to the younger generation. You can buy any of his books from Amazon or read more about him on his Official Website.

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Happy Eating!

 

 

Posted by Gina Mosera
TAGS: Michael Pollan, Widener University, Food Rules,
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