Michael Pollen revolutionized how we look at plants and food. His books and articles gave voice to a rising tide of dietitians, educators, and scientists concerned about America's fast flight to fat. Policy is indeed changing to favor fresh and limit sugars and fats. Though I love Pollen's message, as a student of agroecology, food, politics, and social change, it's gotten a bit redundant over time. You can't improve on a good message, right?
Well, you can look at multiple dimensions of the message for a richer understanding. Enter
Mark Bittman. He writes on food for the Opinionator section of the New York Times. Bittman is a hero of Pollan's caliber - author of Food Matters: A Guide to Conscience Eating and a columnist for decades on food, policy, and their impacts on health and environment.
Michael Pollen of "Omnivore's Dilemma" (and many more books) wrote an extensive piece for the Times which pretty much summarizes his multi-book treatise on food and health.
Though Bittman is the food and dining columnist and Pollen the academician, I appreciate that the former assumes that sustainability, human rights, and nutrition are symbiotic and necessary for good food choices. While Pollen elaborates on nutrition science with a jounralistic fury, Bittman stays focused on food, good and fresh. I find good, organic, juicy zucchini its own compelling advocate.
Perhaps it's the accessible nature of newspaper columns, but I loved Bittman's article on the current food policy climate. His Food Manifesto is worth a look as well.
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