Michael Pollan as secretary of Agriculture?
I didn鈥檛 think of writer Michael Pollan as anything more than a fine journalist when his work first started influencing the way I think about food, some 12 years ago. (I switched to eating organic potatoes after . Then he took on another title, bestselling author, with 鈥淭he Omnivore鈥檚 Dilemma鈥� and 鈥�In Defense of Food.鈥� And now he鈥檚 more than that; he鈥檚 become a public figure, and a hero to those in what I think of as the good food movement.
Journalists aren鈥檛 generally comfortable with public roles 鈥� , for instance, to serve as secretary of Agriculture. When I interviewed Pollan recently about his latest book, 鈥淔ood Rules,鈥� for , I had the chance to ask what he thinks about being pushed to be a public leader. His reply:
鈥淭his is a movement that is in need of leadership鈥�. But it's not a role I'm well suited to. I'm not a political actor. I know how to talk to the public, I don't know how to negotiate with the food industry, I don't know how to move legislation in Congress, I don't know how to write legislation. If you told me, 'OK, buddy, put up or shut up, how do we write the farm bill?' I don't know how we do that. And the movement needs people who do, people who understand the ways of Washington.
鈥淏ut there are signs that these people are emerging. There are a lot of young people getting into the food movement now; they ask me how to get involved. I tell them to go to law school and do things like that. They all want to be chefs and writers, but we need other people, other roles.鈥�
True. But we also need inspiration and guidance, and Pollan鈥檚 work already provides plenty of that.
Does an author have a responsibility to do anything more?
Rebekah Denn blogs at .
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