The Michael Pollan Prescription: How to Eat Better and Avoid the Industrial Diet
(Page 5 of 6)
Nov. 4, 2008
By Betsy Model
You have written about — and bemoaned — the loss of what you have called “the steadying culture of food.” Can you explain what you mean by that?
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People focus, I think, unreasonably on the content of their diet. You know, ‘Am I eating too much saturated fat? Too much fiber? Too many refined carbs?’ Well, few people worry about eating too much fiber, I guess [laughs], but people don’t pay nearly enough attention to the culture surrounding food which is to say when people eat, how they eat, where they eat, with what do they eat, the combinations of food, the size of the plate, do they eat at a table or standing up, do they eat in their car … that kind of stuff.
I think that’s part of our problem in America, not having a food culture that governs our relationship to food and leaves us vulnerable to the marketing messages which are, of course: ‘Eat all you want 24/7.’ I mean, Taco Bell is out promoting the Fourth Meal! They really are looking for new eating occasions and they’re designing food for your car. If there were a food culture here, there would be something to withstand that. Europeans are disgusted by the idea of eating in the car. It’s a real turn-off. We don’t really have any taboo to get in the way of that.
How to Afford the Good Stuff
You’ve argued that there is no such thing as cheap food, but many fast food companies will argue that. They’ll say ‘We have 99-cent tacos or burgers. You get carbohydrates in the bun or the tortilla, you get meat, you get lettuce, some tomato and you get it all for just 99 cents.’
And you get diabetes, you get heart disease, you get pollution of the waterways, you get abused animals, you get miserable farm workers who are paid pennies per pound for the tomatoes on that taco … you get the whole package for that 99 cents! You get a lot for that money, but it’s not all food and it’s not all things you’re going to feel good about. It may look cheap but there’s always a price long-term.
But what about when someone’s already struggling to make ends meet and are looking at, say, nearly $9 a gallon for organic milk?
Look, there are people who can’t afford to spend more on food, and for them we have to address and look at things from a policy point of view. We have to figure out a way to make healthy food compete more effectively with so-called cheap food. We need to look at the Farm Bill and the way we’re subsidizing agriculture and access to food in the inner city. But, you know, there are lots of people in this country who can afford to spend more money for food, and they tell themselves they can’t because they’d rather spend it on other things. They’d rather spend it on their cable television bill or their cell phone bill or whatever it is. So before people say ‘I can’t afford the organic milk,’ we all need to do a little audit and say ‘What am I spending my money on?’
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