22 October 2008

Michael Pollan talks about the threat of food crisis

On Monday, Michael Pollan appeared on NPR's Fresh Air to talk about avoiding the coming food crisis. (Listen to the podcast.) Earlier this month, in a open letter to the next president, he warned that "the era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close." Fresh Air host Terry Gross asks him for details.

UPDATE: Pollan also made an appearance on WNYC's The Leonard Lopate Show today. You can subscribe to the podcast here or go to The Leonard Lopate Show archives to catch the episode.

Watch Michael Pollan's TEDTalk below -- and maybe, draw some perspective from James Howard Kunstler's TEDTalk on the coming oil crisis. (Thanks for the tip, GR!)

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08 October 2008

A heavy education for New York City commuters

Many of us don't know how to eat. (And it's making us fat, sick and disconnected.) This poster and three more like it are turning up in New York subways, confronting us with the vagueness that goes into our food choices. If you really knew that a fast-food burrito meal was 1170 calories -- more than half the calories you should eat all day -- would you still think it was healthy? The campaign, led by NYC's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, hopes to make a dent in the preventable health problems and early deaths caused by obesity each year. Dr. Dean Ornish would be proud. -- Sierra Feldner-Shaw

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07 February 2008

The omnivore's next dilemma: Michael Pollan on TED.com

What if human consciousness isn't the end-all and be-all of Darwinism? What if we are all just pawns in corn's clever strategy game, the ultimate prize of which is world domination? Michael Pollan asks us to see things from a plant's-eye view -- to consider the possibility that nature isn't opposed to culture, that biochemistry rivals intellect as a survival tool. By merely shifting our perspective, he argues, we can heal the Earth. Who's the more sophisticated species now? (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 17:31.)

Watch Michael Pollan's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

Read more about Michael Pollan on TED.com.

NEW: Read the transcript >>

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