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Michael Pollan

An American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley

In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan describes four basic ways that human societies have obtained food: the current industrial system, the big organic operation, the local self-sufficient farm, and the hunter-gatherer. Pollan follows each of these processes from a group of plants photosynthesizing calories through a series of intermediate stages and ultimately to a meal. Along the way, he suggests that there is a fundamental tension between the logic of nature and the logic of human industry, that the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world, and that industrial eating obscures crucially important ecological relationships and connections. On December 10, 2006, The New York Times named The Omnivore's Dilemma one of the five best nonfiction books of the year. On May 8, 2007, the James Beard Foundation named The Omnivore's Dilemma its 2007 winner for the best food writing. It was the book of focus for the University of Pennsylvania's Reading Project 2007, and the book of choice for Washington State University's Common Reading Program in 2009-10. An excerpt of the book was published in Mother Jones.

Pollan's discussion of the industrial food chain is in large part a critique of modern agribusiness. According to the book, agribusiness has lost touch with the natural cycles of farming, wherein livestock and crops intertwine in mutually beneficial circles. Pollan's critique of modern agribusiness focuses on what he describes as the overuse of corn for purposes ranging from fattening cattle to massive production of corn oil, high-fructose corn syrup, and other corn derivatives. He describes what he sees as the inefficiencies and other drawbacks of factory farming and gives his assessment of organic food production and what it's like to hunt and gather food. He blames those who set the rules (i.e., politicians in Washington, D.C., bureaucrats at the United States Department of Agriculture, Wall Street capitalists, and agricultural conglomerates like Archer Daniels Midland) or what he calls a destructive and precarious agricultural system that has wrought havoc upon the diet, nutrition, and well-being of Americans. Pollan finds hope in Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm in Virginia, which he sees as a model of sustainability in commercial farming. Pollan appears in the documentary film King Corn (2007).

Pollan is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, a former executive editor for Harper's Magazine, and author of five books: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (2008) The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006), The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (2001), A Place of My Own (1997), and Second Nature A Gardener's Education (1991).

His recent work has dealt with the practices of the meat industry, and he has written a number of articles on trends in American agriculture. He has received the Reuters World Conservation Union Global Awards in environmental journalism, the James Beard Foundation Awards for best magazine series in 2003, and the Genesis Award from the American Humane Association. His articles have been anthologized in Best American Science Writing (2004), Best American Essays (1990 and 2003), The Animals: Practicing Complexity (2006) and the Norton Book of Nature Writing (1990).

(Profile information sourced from Wikipedia and other publicly available internet sources.)

Michael Pollan on the web

Website: Michael Pollan
Wikipedia: Michael Pollan
IMDb: Michael Pollan
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TED: Michael Pollan

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Greater Good Science Center

University of California, Berkeley, 2425 Atherton Street #6070, Berkeley, CA 94720-6070

p: 510 642 2490

Email | Web

Greater Good Science Center

Organization

The Greater Good Science Center studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being, and teaches skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society.

Based at the University of California, Berkeley, the GGSC is unique in its commitment to both science and practice: not only do we sponsor groundbreaking scientific research into social and emotional well-being, we help people apply this research to their personal and professional lives. Since 2001, we have been at the fore of a new scientific movement to explore the roots of happy and compassionate individuals, strong social bonds, and altruistic behavior—the science of a meaningful life. And we have been without peer in our award-winning efforts to translate and disseminate this science to the public.

We have pursued this mission through the following core activities.

Fellowship Program. Fellowships to UC Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students are the foundation of the Center’s scientific initiatives. The GGSC’s fellowship program supports scholars whose work relates to our mission, from across a broad spectrum of academic disciplines. Previous GGSC fellows have gone on to top research and teaching positions at universities nationwide, providing a significant boost to the science of compassion, resilience, altruism, and happiness.

Greater Good, the online magazine of the GGSC—the cornerstone of this website and the Center’s efforts to disseminate cutting-edge science. Greater Good fuses in-depth, practical reporting on the science of a meaningful life with inspiring stories of compassion in action. In the process, it provides a bridge between social scientists and parents, educators, community leaders, and policy makers.

The Raising Happiness blog, created by Christine Carter, Ph.D., the director of the GGSC’s Greater Good Parents program. In her award-winning, one-of-a-kind blog (formerly named Half Full), Carter offers science-based tips for more joyful kids and happier parents. She combines her work as a sociologist and happiness expert with her experiences as a mother, producing a rich, humorous, and credible guide to raising kids in the 21st century.

Events. GGSC events bring together leading scientists, educators, and members of the public to discuss concrete strategies for promoting the greater good. Most recently, our Science of a Meaningful Life seminar series has included presentations by luminaries like Paul Ekman, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Barbara Fredrickson, and Philip Zimbardo. Previous GGSC events have featured talks by distinguished figures such as Jonathan Kozol, Arlie Hochschild, and Robert Reich.

After starting as a widely acclaimed print magazine in 2004, Greater Good relaunched in 2010 in a more dynamic, multimedia format, including these features:

The entire Greater Good archive—hundreds of articles that have appeared in the magazine, most of which were not previously available online;
New videos, including its Science of a Meaningful Life series, which boasts provocative, accessible presentations by some of the world’s top experts on compassion, mindfulness, happiness, and more;
New podcast series, including the Greater Good Podcast—interviews with leading researchers and thinkers on the science of social-emotional well-being—and the Happiness Matters Podcast, featuring conversations between the GGSC’s Christine Carter and nurse Rona Renner, host of the radio show “Childhood Matters”;

Please spend time on the new Greater Good. Post a comment on an article or in this announcement to let us know what you think.!

Our Core Beliefs

Compassion is a fundamental human trait, with deep psychological and evolutionary roots. By creating environments that foster cooperation and altruism, we help nurture the positive side of human nature.
Happiness is not simply dependent on a person’s genes. It is a set of skills that can be taught, and, with practice, developed over time.
Happiness and altruism are intertwined—doing good is an essential ingredient to being happy.
Science should do more than help us understand human behavior and emotion in the abstract; it should be applied toward improving people’s personal and professional lives.
Studying the roots of good, healthy, and positive behavior is just as important as studying human pathologies. To promote individual and social well-being, science must examine how people overcome difficult circumstances and how they develop positive emotions and relationships.

Individual well-being promotes social well-being, and social well-being promotes individual well-being. The well-being of society as a whole can best be achieved by providing information, tools, and skills to those people directly responsible for shaping the well-being of others.