| ABOUT US | ARCHIVES | LINKS | RSS FEED | MONDAYS | |

3quarksdaily

An Eclectic Digest of Science, Art and Literature

« space-time | Main | Régis Debray on religion and modernity »

October 12, 2008

An Open Letter to the New President on How We Grow and Eat Our Food

12policy_1190Michael Pollan in the NYT Magazine:

It may surprise you to learn that among the issues that will occupy much of your time in the coming years is one you barely mentioned during the campaign: food. Food policy is not something American presidents have had to give much thought to, at least since the Nixon administration — the last time high food prices presented a serious political peril. Since then, federal policies to promote maximum production of the commodity crops (corn, soybeans, wheat and rice) from which most of our supermarket foods are derived have succeeded impressively in keeping prices low and food more or less off the national political agenda. But with a suddenness that has taken us all by surprise, the era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close. What this means is that you, like so many other leaders through history, will find yourself confronting the fact — so easy to overlook these past few years — that the health of a nation’s food system is a critical issue of national security. Food is about to demand your attention.

Complicating matters is the fact that the price and abundance of food are not the only problems we face; if they were, you could simply follow Nixon’s example, appoint a latter-day Earl Butz as your secretary of agriculture and instruct him or her to do whatever it takes to boost production. But there are reasons to think that the old approach won’t work this time around; for one thing, it depends on cheap energy that we can no longer count on. For another, expanding production of industrial agriculture today would require you to sacrifice important values on which you did campaign.

Posted by Robin Varghese at 12:31 PM | Permalink

Comments

Isn't it funny that, at the beginning of the 21st century, every issue--from national security, to poverty, to energy, to the environment--is being linked to farming? I would have thought we would be done with farms by now but it seems they're just getting started...

Posted by: Stefany | Oct 14, 2008 10:46:35 AM

Post a comment






Subscribe to this blog's feed  

3QD Science Prize

Logo designed by Vicki Winters

Iran Twitter News

Andrew Covers Iran

The Lede on Iran

HuffPo Liveblogging

Help 3 Quarks Daily

3QD on Twitter

Search Using Lijit

Lijit Search

Bookmark This Page

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

3QD FEED FOR GOOGLE


Add to Google

3QD ADVERTISING


Compare prices

  • Canada (French)
  • Australia
  • New Zealand
  • South Africa
  • Brazil
  • Recent Comments

    Fill on The resignation speech of Sarah Palin: a deconstruction

    Luke Lea on tatlin

    Richard on Philosophy as Complementary Science

    Dave Ranning on Thursday Poem

    Frances Madeson on Lessons from an Unexpected Life

    maniza on Thursday Poem

    maniza on Thursday Poem

    David Schneider on Thursday Poem

    Elatia Harris on Lessons from an Unexpected Life

    Thomas Decker on Philosophy as Complementary Science

    Jonathan on Philosophy as Complementary Science

    Frank on Hitler finds out Michael Jackson has died

    Louise Gordon on Philosophy as Complementary Science

    Louise Gordon on The Improbable American

    Hektor Bim on The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

    maniza on The Improbable American

    Justin E. H. Smith on Philosophy as Complementary Science

    Louise Gordon on Todd Shea: The Improbable 3QD Commenter

    fred lapides on Philosophy as Complementary Science

    Chrystal K. on The resignation speech of Sarah Palin: a deconstruction

    Brian on Baldwin in Istanbul

    Pepito on Anti-Semitism in Chávez’s Venezuela

    Mike Cope on Philosophy as Complementary Science

    Louise Gordon on The Improbable American

    Louise Gordon on Anti-Semitism in Chávez’s Venezuela

    Acclaim For 3QD

    ------XXX------

    "I couldn't tear myself away from 3 Quarks Daily, to the point of neglecting my work. Congratulations on this superb site."—Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University.

    "I have placed 3 Quarks Daily at the head of my list of web bookmarks."—Richard Dawkins, Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.

    "Just wanted you to know I’m one of many who reads and enjoys 3 Quarks....almost daily."—David Byrne, musician, former lead-singer of the Talking Heads, artist, intellectual.

    Subscribe to this blog's feed