I attended the “Visions and Voices” discussion with Michael Pollan (author of “Omnivore’s Dilemma” among other prolific food titles) and Eric Schlosser (author of “Fast Food Nation”). The event was held at the USC Bovard Auditorium and mostly run by students and widely attended by students along with passionate culinarians and foodies alike from the LA area. The event sold out within hours of being posted online.
I sat in the upper balcony alongside three USC students. They all had different majors and were there by choice, not by assignment.
Evan Kleinman, Moderator
The discussion began as Evan Kleinman led the group to three comfy chairs. Evan sat on the far right, Michael Pollan in the center and Eric Schlosser on the far left. As they started the discussion, I began to feel incredibly nervous. The very idea that we were going to pick apart a food system that has gone so disastrously wrong, made me painfully aware that I ate three meals a day and cook many multiples more for others. The sheer weight of doing right by the world with every meal was crushing.
Much to my relief, the discussion was enlightening and showed all three food icons as everyday people who were extraordinarily educated on the topic of food, but continue to make mistakes too.
For the first time ever, I live tweeted during the show to give people a chance to follow the discussion from twitter. Over tweeting can be a turn off, but my followers responded with questions and really engaged in the topic. (You can follow me @madebymeg)
Here are some highlights:
What are your thoughts on the new dietary guidelines recently approved by the federal government?
Pollan: For the first time since 1977, the federal government has advised us to eat less, although they were a little tricky with their wording. They come right out and name vegetables as a type of food to eat more of, but when we get to things we should eat less of, they revert to scientific names instead of saying “eat less meat.” I was disappointed to see Michelle Obama on the Today show talk about the new guidelines. She didn’t say “drink less soda,” she said “drink more water.” These are two very different things. See the interview here: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41478508/ns/today-today_people/
Walmart is shown in Food Inc. (in which Pollan and Schlosser starred) as integrating organic foods into their product line. They have said they want to start sourcing produce locally. Do you think they will keep that commitment?
Pollan: If their reputation in the past is any indication, no. Walmart has a history of choosing small producers to supply their national chain and once these producers have amped up their production and facilities to accommodate Walmart’s needs, they ask the producer to reduce their prices by 20%. If Walmart is your main source of revenue and you’re deeply in debt because of the expansion needed to accommodate them, what are you supposed to do? Walmart has vowed not to do that the local producers, (press release here: http://walmartstores.com/pressroom/news/8414.aspx ) but I don’t know if that’s possible.
Who’s living better?
Schlosser: The fact that we have companies like Walmart that gross more annually than some states in this union is appalling. In the 70s Walmart would have been broken up under anti-trust law. They have more power over the food chain than the federal government. The existence and power of large companies like Walmart is undemocratic in nature. (This comment was met with applause)
Pollan: It is actually a national security threat that we have such a centralized food system. Between Walmart, Monsanto and two other major food suppliers, if we had an attack on any of these suppliers, the nation’s food supply would be in danger. This was briefly considered in 2001 after 9/11 and not really since.
The discussion turned to school lunches. It was brought to light that the federal government only allows for $0.77 a day to feed each child. Some cafeteria workers claim that meat packages are labeled as “Grade D but edible.” Much of the meat contains filler coined in the food industry as “pink slime.” This is meat filler with all sorts of discarded animal parts and then treated with ammonia. It can be used to make up 70% of cheap meat products.
Other important points:
Pollan: We could stop world hunger by giving less of our food supply to livestock. The livestock is bred to feed a largely all meat diet for Americans. If we integrate more vegetables, reduce our daily meat intake and redistribute the food supply, we could seriously offset the hunger issue. As a loose estimation, we have about one billion obese people and one billion starving people in the world.
Schlosser: There is an economic divide in the access people have to food. The wealthy can afford organic and natural foods, along with a personal trainer while the low income masses can really only afford chemically treated food and fast food. We need equalize this and make good food affordable for the masses.
Do you cook?
Pollan: Yes. Not well, but I’m working on it. My interest in food really began with my garden and growing food in my own backyard.
Schlosser: No, I don’t cook. I boil. I used to eat a lot of McDonald’s. I still like the taste of it, but won’t eat there because I don’t want to contribute a single dollar to their operation and bad practices.
Honestly, this truly disappointed me. I guess I assumed they both cooked. Who cooks for Schlosser? Does he have a personal Chef or would I catch him at El Pollo Loco? (Ahem, you might catch me there too, but I’m not writing books about food).
Hopeful news: Given the change in public health insurance policy, health insurers have a huge interest in keeping the population healthy. They are huge future supporters of a sustainable food system.
A quick question from the audience about why Jamie Oliver is meeting a lot of pushback on his show, ‘Food Revolution,” from the Los Angeles Unified School District; the resounding answer is because he is accompanied by a camera crew. LAUSD might be more receptive if the cameras weren’t in tow and the previous seasons town wasn’t make a national fool of on television. Read the LA Times article about Jamie Oliver’s obstacles here: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2010/11/jamie-oliver-turned-down-by-la-school-district.html
Thank you for reading this long post! I am not a politician, can get facts wrong and hear things incorrectly. This is a summary of my notes and impression of the event along with a few direct quotes.
I urge everyone to make time for events like this. Being a part of your community and learning about the world at large is absolutely thrilling. Thank you to Visions and Voices for providing this forum for free education.
