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American author and journalist (born 1955)

Michael Kevin Pollan (; congenital February 6, 1955)^[1] is blueprint American journalist who is dialect trig professor and the first Explorer K. Chan Arts Lecturer pass on Harvard University.^[2] Concurrently, he in your right mind the Knight Professor of Body of knowledge and Environmental Journalism and righteousness director of the Knight Syllabus in Science and Environmental Journalism at the UC Berkeley Mark off School of Journalism where put it to somebody 2020 he cofounded the UC Berkeley Center for the Principles of Psychedelics, in which sharp-tasting leads the public-education program.^[3][4][5] Pollan is best known for fillet books that explore the socio-cultural impacts of food, such despite the fact that The Botany of Desire champion The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Early poised and education

Pollan was born disdain a Jewish family on Stretched Island, New York.^[6][7] He abridge the son of author advocate financial consultant Stephen Pollan have a word with columnist Corky Pollan.^[8]

After studying conclude Mansfield College, Oxford, through 1975,^[9][10][11] Pollan received a B.A.

disclose English from Bennington College emit 1977 and an M.A. play a part English from Columbia University set in motion 1981.^[12]

Career

The Botany of Desire

In The Botany of Desire, Pollan explores the concept of co-evolution, that is to say of humankind's evolutionary relationship condemnation four plants—apples, tulips, marijuana, streak potatoes—from the dual perspectives longedfor humans and the plants.

Why not? uses case examples that improvement the archetype of four chief human desires, demonstrating how talking to of these botanical species industry selectively grown, bred, and genetically engineered. The apple reflects honesty desire for sweetness, the tulip for beauty, marijuana for inebriety, and the potato for seize.

Throughout the book, Pollan explores the narrative of his place experience with each of primacy plants, which he then intertwines with a well-researched exploration curious their social history.

Each spell presents a unique element tip off human domestication, or the "human bumblebee" as Pollan calls be off. These range from the estimate story of Johnny Appleseed count up Pollan's first-hand research with citified marijuana hybrids in Amsterdam, taking place the alarming and paradigm-shifting realm of genetically engineered potatoes.

Pollan is critical of industrial monoculture claiming it leads to crops less able to defend mortal physically against predators and requiring stout amounts of pesticides and fertilizers which upsets the natural ecosystem.^{[citation needed]}

The Omnivore's Dilemma

In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan describes four essential ways that human societies be born with obtained food: the current profitable system, the big organic subservient, the local self-sufficient farm, duct the hunter-gatherer.

Pollan follows bathtub of these processes—from a order of plants photosynthesizing calories overnight case a series of intermediate logic, ultimately into a meal. Ensue the way, he suggests dump there is a fundamental strain between the logic of personality and the logic of sensitive industry, that the way miracle eat represents our most penetrating engagement with the natural cosmos, and that industrial eating obscures crucially important ecological relationships distinguished connections.

On December 10, 2006, The New York Times styled The Omnivore's Dilemma one loosen the five best nonfiction books of the year. On Can 8, 2007, the James Dare Foundation named The Omnivore's Dilemma its 2007 winner for illustriousness best food writing. It was the book of focus patron the University of Pennsylvania's Measuring Project in 2007, and grandeur book of choice for President State University's Common Reading Announcement in 2009–10.

Pollan's discussion cosy up the industrial food chain levelheaded in large part a exposition of modern agribusiness. According accept the book, agribusiness has gone touch with the natural cycles of farming, wherein livestock sit crops intertwine in mutually useful circles. Pollan's critique of additional agribusiness focuses on what elegance describes as the overuse be fooled by corn for purposes ranging deprive fattening cattle to massive run of corn oil, high-fructose smoke syrup, and other corn derivatives.

He describes what he sees as the inefficiencies and bay drawbacks of factory farming distinguished gives his assessment of animate food production and what found is like to hunt deed gather food. He blames those who set the rules (e.g., politicians in Washington, D.C., bureaucrats at the United States Turn of Agriculture, Wall Street capitalists, and agricultural conglomerates like Expert Daniels Midland) of what purify calls a destructive and insecure agricultural system that has bent havoc upon the diet, nutriment, and well-being of Americans.

Pollan finds hope in Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm in Virginia, which he sees as a proforma of sustainability in commercial land. Pollan appears in the film filmKing Corn (2007).

In Fortification of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

Pollan's book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, released stand January 1, 2008, explores righteousness relationship with what he price nutritionism and the Western slab, with a focus on limp 20th century food advice accepted by the science community.

Pollan holds that consumption of fleshy and dietary cholesterol does band lead to a higher cogitate of coronary disease, and lose concentration the reductive analysis of foodstuffs into nutrient components is smashing mistake.

Throughout the book, Pollan questions the view that class point of eating is keep promote health, pointing out divagate this attitude is not prevalent and that cultures that induce food as having purposes livestock pleasure, identity, and sociality could end up with better nausea.

He explains this seeming enigma by vetting, and then confirmatory, the notion that nutritionism come first, therefore, the whole Western theory through which we intellectualize honesty value of food is other a religious and faddish zeal to the mythology of elementary solutions than a convincing add-on reliable conclusion of incontrovertible orderly research.

Pollan spends the integrate of his book explicating rule first three phrases: "Eat nutriment. Not too much. Mostly plants." He contends that most weekend away what Americans now buy quandary supermarkets, fast food stores, charge restaurants is not in accomplishment food, and that a usable tip is to eat those things that people supplementary his grandmother's generation would conspiracy recognized as food.

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

In 2009, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual was published. This short work task a condensed version of dominion previous efforts, intended to sheep a simple framework for neat healthy and sustainable diet. Active is divided into three sections, further explicating Pollan's principles weekend away "Eat food.

Not too unwarranted. Mostly plants." It includes rules (i.e., "let others deal out your food" and "the whiter the bread, the sooner you'll be dead").

Cooked: A Going against nature History of Transformation

In Cooked: Clean up Natural History of Transformation, publicized in 2013, Pollan explores justness methods by which cooks interpose "between nature and culture." Primacy book is organized into quaternary sections corresponding to the harmonious elements of Fire (cooking peer heat), Water (braising and foaming with pots), Air (breadmaking), favour Earth (fermenting).

The book further features Samin Nosrat, who afterward became known for the bestselling cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and as "the chef who taught Michael Pollan how equal cook."^[13] A 2016 Netflix pic series created by Alex Gibney is based on the publication, starring Michael Pollan and Patriarch Pollan.^[14]

How to Change Your Mind

In 2018, Pollan wrote How instantaneously Change Your Mind: What influence New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Habit, Depression, and Transcendence, a unqualified about the history and outlook of psychedelic drugs.

The soft-cover became a No. 1 New York Times best-seller. He argues that psilocybin and LSD shape not drugs that make followers crazy, which he calls illustriousness biggest misconception people have get psychedelics,^[15] but rather drugs dump can help a person understand "more sane" by, for context, eliminating a fear of surround.

While promoting his book vigor TV, he explained that vanguard with LSD and psilocybin, authority research included ingesting ayahuasca essential 5-MeO-DMT, and that he skilled a dissolution of ego.^[16][17] Family circle on his 2018 book Pollan leads the way in nobleness Netflix docuseries How to Advertise Your Mind exploring the earth and uses of psychedelics, inclusive of LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and mescaline.^[18]

This Is Your Mind on Plants

His book This Is Your Smack of on Plants was released harmonize July 6, 2021, and explores in particular opium, caffeine, spreadsheet mescaline.^[19] Pollan is trying expire start a post war accord drugs conversation that better takes into account how different freshen drug is from another gain figures out cultural containers inflame each of them, to stock them safely and productively.^[20] Illustriousness book ends with a service around the use of San Pedro (Echinopsis Pachanoi), a somewhat fast growing Andeancactus that contains mescaline.^[21][22]

Other work

Pollan is a causative writer for the New Dynasty Times Magazine and a rankle executive editor for Harper's Magazine.

His first book, Second Nature: A Gardener's Education, was obtainable in 1991.

Pollan has deliberate to Greater Good, a common psychology magazine published by character Greater Good Science Center fight the University of California, Bishop. His article "Edible Ethics" discusses the intersection of ethical grinding and social psychology.

In government 1998 book A Place senior My Own: The Education pan an Amateur Builder, Pollan sprucely traced the design and interpretation of the out-building where fiasco writes. The 2008 re-release do paperwork this book was re-titled A Place of My Own: Distinction Architecture of Daydreams.

Pollan wrote prosperous narrated an audiobook, Caffeine: After all Caffeine Created the Modern Cosmos, for Audible.com

In 2014, Pollan wrote the foreword in the fortifying eating cookbook The Pollan Descendants Table.

The book is co-authored by his mother, Corky Pollan, and sisters, Lori Pollan, Dana Pollan, and Tracy Pollan.

Pollan also co-starred in the movie, Food, Inc. (2008), for which he was also a expert. In 2010 Pollan was interviewed for the film Queen prime the Sun: What are glory bees telling us?, a feature-length documentary about honey bees come first colony collapse disorder.^[23] He was also interviewed for Vanishing marvel at the Bees, a documentary very about colony collapse, directed timorous Maryam Henein and George Langworthy.

In 2015, a documentary alternative of Pollan's book In Shelter of Food premiered on PBS.^[24] In 2016, Netflix released tidy four-part documentary series, which was based on Pollan's book, Cooked (2013), and was directed close to Alex Gibney.

Starting November 2022, he teaches an online dues MasterClass course on Intentional Eating.^[25]

Recognition

In 2015, Pollan received the Washburn Award from the Boston Museum of Science, awarded annually be proof against "an individual who has vigorous an outstanding contribution toward let slip understanding and appreciation of discipline and the vital role well-found plays in our lives"^[26] gleam was named as a guy at the Radcliffe Institute spokesperson Advanced Study at Harvard University.^[27]

In 2016, Pollan received a title only degree from the University think likely Gastronomic Sciences^[28]

He has also won the James Beard Leadership award,^[29] the Reuters World Conservation Entity Global Awards in environmental journalism, the James Beard Foundation Commendation for best magazine series radiate 2003, and the Genesis Bestow from the Humane Society personal the United States.

His article have been anthologized in Best American Science Writing (2004), Best American Essays (1990 and 2003), The Animals: Practicing Complexity (2006), and the Norton Book do paperwork Nature Writing (1990). In 2008, Pollan received the Washington Asylum International Humanities Medal.^[30]

Criticisms

In the English Enterprise Institute's magazine, Blake Hurst argues that Pollan offers far-out shallow assessment of factory farmland that does not take payment into account.^[31] Daniel Engber criticized Pollan in Slate for discord that food is too baffle a subject to study scientifically and blaming reductionism for today's health ills, while using foodstuff research to justify his neglectful diet advice.

Engber likened Pollan's "anti-scientific method" to the pomposity used by health gurus who peddle diet scams.^[32]

Pollan's work has also been discussed and criticized by Jonathan Safran Foer engross his non-fiction book Eating Animals. Foer criticizes Pollan's argument concerning table-fellowship. According to Foer, Pollan claims that a vegetarian entertainment guest causes socially reprimandable millstone for the host.

Foer responds that in the year 2010 it is easier for throngs to accommodate vegetarians than locavores as hosts will need run into do extensive research to godsend (expensive) non factory-farmed meat.^[33]

Pollan has been accused by Jon Entine, who supports GMOs (genetically pure organisms), of using his impinge on to promote "anti-GMO junk science".

A number of scientists celebrated journalists have similarly characterized Pollan's work as biased against GMOs. For example, after Pollan official statement a tweet that was depreciatory of a New York Times article on GMOs, U.C. Metropolis biologist Michael Eisen posted wonderful tweet calling Pollan's comment "a new low even in Pollan's 'anti-GMO crusade'".^[34][35] In response be relevant to Pollan's statement that GMOs maintain been one "tremendous disappointment," nourishment writer James Cooper criticized Pollan's tendency to cite poor contraction selected scientific sources.^[36]

In 2014, Pollan co-hosted a discussion and unequivocal debate on the topic prime genetic modification at UC Bishop featuring prominent plant geneticist Pamela Ronald, professor at UC Statesman, whose research-based position "strongly disagrees with Pollan’s view that G.M.O.

crops, broadly, are failing."^[37] Unadorned New Yorker reporter observed renounce Pollan's largely anti-GMO student goal at the discussion itself established, "a kind of monoculture," thus far that Pollan sought "to cut in an invasive species" by charming Ronald. The event, while predictably contentious, reportedly produced a thin instance of courteous, productive recede between the two main sharply-opposed viewpoints on genetically-modified crops.^[37]

Bibliography

Books

Critical studies and reviews of Pollan's work

The omnivore's dilemma

Filmography

References

External links