Michael Pollan Leadership

Eating has profoundly impact and influence on individual life. We can tell where most people are going to end up in life simply based on the choice they made on food. the question of what to eat, when virtually every food known to man is at your fingertips. Should you go gluten-free? Vegetarian or vegan? How about low-carb, Paleo, dairy-free, or sugar-free?. Michael Pollen discusses in his article " The Omnivore’s Dilemma" a true understanding of what we eat and what we should eat. Pollan points out that alternative method of producing food that is being overshadowed by the big, industrial system we have in place to provide consumers with sustenance. Pollan brings people a closer look at the true nature of industrial food, he find that most

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, written by Michael Pollan, gives light to the question, “What should we have for dinner?” that he thinks Americans today cannot answer simply due to the fact that there are too many food options. This book serves as an eye-opener to challenge readers to be more aware and accountable of what is consumed daily. In order to understand fully where our food comes from, we must follow it back to the very beginning. Pollan goes on to discuss three different modern food chains in which we get our food: the industrial, the organic, and the hunter-gatherer. By tracing our food back to the beginning, we can understand that most of the nutritional and health problems America is going through today can be found on the farms that make our food and the government that can decide what happens. America deals with many food related illness such as, heart disease, obesity, and type II diabetes. Majority of a human and animals diet consists of being corn-fed leading to a high cause of obesity in the United States these are just some of the many diseases that come with over processed foods and diets we are unaware of. In this study, we will highlight the environmental and health issues and impacts related with modern agriculture and how these systems can be made more sustainable.

Michael Pollan the author of Omnivore 's Dilemma discusses and asks, “what should we have for dinner?” He attempts to answer one of the pressing questions of sustainability in today 's society, to save money or to save the planet, and how? Pollan talks about how humans are omnivores and we have the choice to eat whatever we want, no matter the health and sustainability implications of our decisions. Pollan discusses three main food chains, industrial (corn), organic, and hunter/gatherer. He analyzes each food chain, learning eating industrial is basically eating corn, and goes into the complex issues

How much should a person truly value his or her health? According to Michael Pollan’s views, people should take what they put into their body serious because diet is the main difference between life and death. Michael Pollan, who has written multiple books about food and eating, focuses on the Western diet in his essay, “Escape from the Western Diet.” In the essay, he argues that people need to stop eating a Western diet because it leads to health complications, such as chronic disease. The standard way of thinking about health has it that the Western diet is an acceptable lifestyle choice; however, Pollan argues that escaping the Western diet is the best lifestyle choice because the diet promotes disease. On one hand, I agree with Pollan; on the other hand, I believe that consuming organic food is key to improving health as well as the environment rather than just escaping the Western diet.

In 2009 a movie by the name of Food Inc. was released that challenged the production of food we eat. The movie examines everything from the science of seeds all the way through the consumption of the food, the food’s often negative effects on the body. The movie ends with the line “You can change the world with every bite”. This quote embodies the heart behind movie that change starts with the individual, and how they make food choices. This sort of change that Food Inc. invokes implies that top down change that the consumer can bring about change to the seed level. Food Inc. challenges the processes that allow companies like Monsanto to feed the world. We must understand how media like Food Inc. effects this mission to feed the world by examining the movie, the history of Monsanto as a company, and looking at the response from both sides to these challenges made in the public square to better combat and address issues brought forth.

The food we eat and the quantity of it is what industries base their investments on; they use this to their advantage and produce more quantity than quality for us to consume, without taking into consideration the effect this might have on us or on the world as a whole. In the article “When a Crop Becomes King” written by Michael Pollan we see what the excessive use of a crop can do to our health and the environment. The vast production of products made with corn has made it the crop which is grown more than any other in the United States, but the process of adapting to the high consumption of corn came at a high cost. While corn is the easiest and cheapest substitute for sugar and animal food it is also linked to the cause of chronic diseases and serious, long-lasting damage to our ecosystems. The production of certain things is something we might not have control of but what we should have control of is our health and what better way than denying anything that we know might give us a hard time the power to do

The Local Sustainable Food Chain creates a healthier environment because the farmers work with the land and animals in more natural ways and help the environment thrive. As shown by Polyface Farms, a prime example of Local Sustainable farming, regular farming practices had created soil that “was either no longer fertile or had washed away. (Pollan 161)” As Joel salatin, the owner of Polyface, switched types of farming, he

In the book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, Pollan introduces some very interesting ideas and positions relating to the how and what we eat. Pollan poses the questions: Is America eating the right kind of food? Is what we are eating healthy? And, where is our food coming from, how is it treated, and what is in the food we eat? Throughout the book Pollan places his own argument alongside the answers to these questions. He moves the reader to reflect on the evidence presented about eating organic foods rather than processed foods. Pollan also puts forth a compelling, and strong argument that contains ideas, like food is of higher quality and has better taste when it is not

In the Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan goes undercover as a “food detective” to find out what we should be eating. But are people doing anything to have a more sustainable healthy lifestyle? We can influence healthier eating, both individually and collectively, by doing things such as encouraging more “Beyond Organic” farms, changing prices for the foods we eat, and even trying to eat healthier in order to encourage and model to our family and friends. In this essay, I will show you how there are many things we can do to making healthier choices for ourselves and even our whole

In Pollan’s “Voting with Your Fork,” he first develops a controversial question by examining the food we eat, the production of food, and the health consequences. Pollan counterbalances his argument on food, and health being manipulated by the food industry by providing supporting evidence and expressing his opinion on the issue. Pollan identifies in his article that as the food industry produces cheaper food the unhealthier the food becomes. Pollan explanation to cheap food is, “While it is true that this system produces vast quantities of cheap food (indeed, the vastness and cheapness is part of the problem), it is not doing what any nation’s food system foremost needs to do: that is, maintain its population in a good health.” In increasing the consumption of cheap food, can result in lethal health problems. “For most of history, the food problem” has been a problem of quantity. Our shocking rates of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, foodborne illness and nutrient deficiency suggest that quantity is not the problem- or the solution.” The purpose of Pollan’s article was to trigger society to acknowledge the food being consumed, the production of cheap food, and how certain foods can lead to negative health consequences. In comparison to Pollan, Konstantinovsky also used an argument of facts to state her claims as to why

In “Escape from the Western Diet” Michael Pollan argues against the scientific theories of nutrition, and discusses the harmful effects, and chronic diseases associated with the Western Diet. Pollan offers an alternate view of a healthier lifestyle to escape the western diet that simply suggests that we “stop eating and thinking that way.” (Pollan 423) He explains that the food industry has changed the wholeness of our food, which causes us to eat unhealthier things such as fast food. He approaches a solution to these contradictory theories and science by focusing on a personal approach to eating that is based on the individual's view of food. Pollan three rules to create a healthier lifestyle are to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants” (Pollan 426) which suggest to eat “real” food in a new balanced and healthy way that creates a pleasurable approach of eating. I agree with Pollan’s concepts about the western diet and his rules of eating simpler.

Pollan received an outstanding education at Bennington College, followed by Oxford University, and finally concluded his impressive schooling by attending one of most highly ranked schools for journalism, Columbia University. Among other things, Pollen has been received as the Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and has been received as a columnist and editor for numerous esteemed newspapers, including The New York Times. As a contributor to some of the most prestigious periodicals and as a Knight professor in multiple fields of journalism, this verifies Michael Pollan’s record of clean and accurate writing and displays his dedication for the field, which both carry over to his book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. In addition to his contributions to a variety of periodicals, Pollan has published over 10 books on food consumption and food production, some of which have earned him a place in the top ten books list by both The New York Times and The Washington Post, a win for the James Beard Award, and a nomination for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In more ways than one, Pollan has

Michael Pollan is the author of In Defense of Food. He is a journalist, activist, and currently a professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Pollan argues that nutrition has become overtly complicated and complex and that food is no longer truly food rather it is processed nutrients. He believes that overnutrition is emerging and that people have an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy (Pollan 9). This obsession of healthy eating has led to scientists concocting food like substances. These foods like substances are over processed foods with added nutrients and preservatives that the FDA claims have health benefits, but what is truly healthy is eating fresh fruits and vegetables. His main message is to “eat food, mostly plants” rather than these imitation foods that fill our grocery stores (Pollan 1).

In the Leadership Challenge, 4th edition, it is Kouzes & Posner (2007) intention to present a road map for individuals to follow on their leadership journey. The authors stress that “leadership is not a gene and it’s not an inheritance.” Leadership they assert is “an identifiable set of skills and abilities that are available to all of us” (p. 23). They make clear that the “great person” theory of leadership is “plain wrong.” Leaders are our everyday heroes who do extraordinary things on a regular basis (p. 23).

Society must educate itself on what type of food is healthy such as fresh or fresh frozen vegetables, lean meats, whole grains and fruits. Parents should take the time to explain what these are and why they are important, educating themselves if necessary. Families can also extend this education to a hands-on experience but starting a small vegetable garden which produces some of the vegetables they eat. Author and farmer, Sharon Astyk, and sustainable systems land planner, Aaron Newton, argue that people need to take back the control of the food selection and prices by growing their own or purchasing directly from local farmers. In their article, “The Rich Get Richer: the Poor Go Hungry”, Astyk and Newton (2015) write, “When we grow our own food, or buy it directly from local farmers, we take power away from multinationals” (p.518). I agree that society should become more involved and self-sustaining pertaining to food to retain independence from companies that are loyal to shareholders. This education will provide the current and future generations necessary resources to make improved food choices, thereby reducing the obesity and diabetes epidemics gripping our nation.