Saturday, February 17, 2007
Michael Pollan
I have added a new link to my "Surfin' The Pond?" section in the right hand column, a simple passageway to all things Michael Pollan. Pollan is a brilliant writer who covers a wide range of topics related to the human-earth connection, and also teaches journalism at UC-Berkeley. I have just recently discovered his body of work via a recommendation by my good friend Jabel, who posted to his blog on February 1 a little snippet about one of Pollans articles in the New York Times entitled Unhappy Meals. After reading the article I reserved and picked up a copy of his latest book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma". As of this post I'm nearly halfway through, and have already recommended it to several people because I'm fascinated beyond expectation. I'll reserve commenting on the actual book itself until I finish reading it, though I've already come across many quotable, practical, eye-opening and poetic lines that I'd love to commit to memory. The link I've created is to Pollan's website, and behind it is a series of articles and bits of information that I definitely intend to browse in the coming weeks & months. Jabel may inspire me to an agrarian focus after all...
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3 comments:
Thanks for the link. Looks like there is some great stuff over there. I'm going to have to check this book out now.
I guess I still think of myself as agrarianish. The hard-core agrarians are the guys who move way out into the country and start farming. I won't be doing that (though I wouldn't mind having more property). But agrarian writers, most notably Wendell Berry, do have a way of changing the way you look at the world. A good dose of agrarianism helps us see that we are part of a great web of life and that what affects one affects all. It is a truly humane philosophy, in my opinion.
You're welcome. I've already started diving into his articles on the site(in chronological order, of course) and have found them quite well written. What I like about the book is that it is practical in its approach to an agrarian focus. A big part is about a farmer named Joel Salatin of a farm called Polyface:
http://www.polyfacefarms.com/
Salatin has an interesting background, including the fact that his dad graduated from I.U. and Joel himself from Bob Jones U...which all makes for an interesting character, to say the least. I've always like farming, per se, seeing that my grandpa had one for a number of years. I remember being around cows, pigs, chickens and all, but never did raise them myself, as you well know. I've also been very fond of reading about plants, flowers and grasses in gardening magazines and online resources, so I guess I've always had a mild interest in all things earthy. Emerson talked about gardens in his essays, and that put into my mind this big plan to someday have a meticulously manicured lawn and garden area around my home. Of course, I've got to get a home with a yard for that to happen, lol. Anyway, rambling again but I'm very excited about the book, and thank you heartily for the recommendation. I'm planning to tackle one of his previous books in the near future, the one called The Botany Of Desire. Peace!
I've heard of Salatin. If I remember correctly he figures prominently into Crunchy Cons, a book that generated a lot of discussion in politically conservative circles last year.
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