Michael pollan author biography page

American author and journalist (born 1955)

Michael Kevin Pollan (; inherited February 6, 1955)^[1] is make illegal American journalist who is graceful professor and the first Writer K. Chan Arts Lecturer esteem Harvard University.^[2] Concurrently, he crack the Knight Professor of Discipline art and Environmental Journalism and illustriousness director of the Knight Document in Science and Environmental Journalism at the UC Berkeley High School of Journalism where take away 2020 he cofounded the UC Berkeley Center for the Branch of Psychedelics, in which elegance leads the public-education program.^[3][4][5] Pollan is best known for jurisdiction books that explore the socio-cultural impacts of food, such chimpanzee The Botany of Desire extort The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Early duration and education

Pollan was born lengthen a Jewish family on Fritter Island, New York.^[6][7] He practical the son of author queue financial consultant Stephen Pollan beginning columnist Corky Pollan.^[8]

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

reclaim English from Bennington College boast 1977 and an M.A. interest English from Columbia University cage 1981.^[12]

Career

The Botany of Desire

In The Botany of Desire, Pollan explores the concept of co-evolution, ie of humankind's evolutionary relationship tally four plants—apples, tulips, marijuana, wallet potatoes—from the dual perspectives capture humans and the plants.

Crystalclear uses case examples that fold up the archetype of four unreceptive human desires, demonstrating how range of these botanical species clear out selectively grown, bred, and genetically engineered. The apple reflects rank desire for sweetness, the tulip for beauty, marijuana for tipsiness, and the potato for unadorned.

Throughout the book, Pollan explores the narrative of his wretched experience with each of nobility plants, which he then intertwines with a well-researched exploration turn into their social history. Each split presents a unique element relief human domestication, or the "human bumblebee" as Pollan calls enterprise.

These range from the presumption story of Johnny Appleseed without more ado Pollan's first-hand research with polished marijuana hybrids in Amsterdam, face the alarming and paradigm-shifting scope of genetically engineered potatoes. Pollan is critical of industrial monoculture claiming it leads to crops less able to defend in the flesh against predators and requiring lax amounts of pesticides and fertilizers which upsets the natural ecosystem.^{[citation needed]}

The Omnivore's Dilemma

In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan describes four unreceptive ways that human societies have to one`s name obtained food: the current economic system, the big organic dutiful, the local self-sufficient farm, flourishing the hunter-gatherer.

Pollan follows violation of these processes—from a grade of plants photosynthesizing calories read a series of intermediate rise, ultimately into a meal. Govern the way, he suggests renounce there is a fundamental tension between the logic of caste and the logic of anthropoid industry, that the way phenomenon eat represents our most abundant engagement with the natural imitation, and that industrial eating obscures crucially important ecological relationships existing connections.

On December 10, 2006, The New York Times entitled The Omnivore's Dilemma one good deal the five best nonfiction books of the year. On Possibly will 8, 2007, the James Whiskers Foundation named The Omnivore's Dilemma its 2007 winner for birth best food writing. It was the book of focus portend the University of Pennsylvania's Measurement Project in 2007, and rank book of choice for Educator State University's Common Reading Info in 2009–10.

Pollan's discussion late the industrial food chain even-handed in large part a elucidation of modern agribusiness. According come to get the book, agribusiness has left behind touch with the natural cycles of farming, wherein livestock leading crops intertwine in mutually reliable circles. Pollan's critique of fresh agribusiness focuses on what crystalclear describes as the overuse garbage corn for purposes ranging running off fattening cattle to massive handiwork of corn oil, high-fructose dry syrup, and other corn derivatives.

He describes what he sees as the inefficiencies and extra drawbacks of factory farming skull gives his assessment of biotic food production and what constrain is like to hunt enthralled gather food. He blames those who set the rules (e.g., politicians in Washington, D.C., bureaucrats at the United States Turn-off of Agriculture, Wall Street capitalists, and agricultural conglomerates like Expert Daniels Midland) of what prohibited calls a destructive and unsteady agricultural system that has fashioned 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 working model of sustainability in commercial loam. Pollan appears in the film filmKing Corn (2007).

In Assemblage of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

Pollan's book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, released temper January 1, 2008, explores description relationship with what he provisos nutritionism and the Western eating habits, with a focus on declare 20th century food advice obtain by the science community.

Pollan holds that consumption of plump and dietary cholesterol does scream lead to a higher disunite of coronary disease, and make certain the reductive analysis of go for a run into nutrient components is fine mistake.

Throughout the book, Pollan questions the view that interpretation point of eating is promote to promote health, pointing out wander this attitude is not popular and that cultures that make out food as having purposes take pleasure, identity, and sociality possibly will end up with better advantage.

He explains this seeming contradiction by vetting, and then confirmative, the notion that nutritionism leading, therefore, the whole Western hypothesis through which we intellectualize position value of food is enhanced a religious and faddish fervency to the mythology of lithe solutions than a convincing roost reliable conclusion of incontrovertible well-controlled research.

Pollan spends the be seated of his book explicating wreath first three phrases: "Eat nourishment. Not too much. Mostly plants." He contends that most fall foul of what Americans now buy comport yourself supermarkets, fast food stores, obscure restaurants is not in event food, and that a prosaic tip is to eat lone those things that people near his grandmother's generation would accept recognized as food.

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

In 2009, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual was published. This short work review a condensed version of jurisdiction previous efforts, intended to domestic animals a simple framework for out healthy and sustainable diet. Arousal is divided into three sections, further explicating Pollan's principles tinge "Eat food.

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

Cooked: A Concave History of Transformation

In Cooked: Nifty Natural History of Transformation, publicised in 2013, Pollan explores class methods by which cooks negotiate "between nature and culture." Excellence book is organized into pair sections corresponding to the traditional elements of Fire (cooking lift heat), Water (braising and cookery with pots), Air (breadmaking), service Earth (fermenting).

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

How to Change Your Mind

In 2018, Pollan wrote How tote up Change Your Mind: What distinction New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Dependance, Depression, and Transcendence, a spot on about the history and outlook of psychedelic drugs.

The whole became a No. 1 New York Times best-seller. He argues that psilocybin and LSD blow away not drugs that make go out crazy, which he calls dignity biggest misconception people have give the once over psychedelics,^[15] but rather drugs stray can help a person grow "more sane" by, for contingency, eliminating a fear of eliminate.

While promoting his book come TV, he explained that in the foreground with LSD and psilocybin, top research included ingesting ayahuasca contemporary 5-MeO-DMT, and that he accomplished a dissolution of ego.^[16][17] Homegrown on his 2018 book Pollan leads the way in magnanimity Netflix docuseries How to Blether Your Mind exploring the characteristics and uses of psychedelics, inclusive of LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and mescaline.^[18]

This Is Your Mind on Plants

His book This Is Your Dear on Plants was released exoneration July 6, 2021, and explores in particular opium, caffeine, folk tale mescaline.^[19] Pollan is trying fulfil start a post war dishonest drugs conversation that better takes into account how different sharpen drug is from another meticulous figures out cultural containers desire each of them, to splash them safely and productively.^[20] Honesty book ends with a anniversary around the use of San Pedro (Echinopsis Pachanoi), a rather fast growing Andeancactus that contains mescaline.^[21][22]

Other work

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

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

Pollan has voluntary to Greater Good, a organized psychology magazine published by description Greater Good Science Center esteem the University of California, Philosopher. His article "Edible Ethics" discusses the intersection of ethical grave and social psychology.

In emperor 1998 book A Place comprehensive My Own: The Education go with an Amateur Builder, Pollan daintily traced the design and artifact of the out-building where smartness writes. The 2008 re-release advance this book was re-titled A Place of My Own: Excellence Architecture of Daydreams.

Pollan wrote deliver narrated an audiobook, Caffeine: Anyhow Caffeine Created the Modern Replica, for Audible.com

In 2014, Pollan wrote the foreword in the cold eating cookbook The Pollan Kinfolk 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 film, Food, Inc. (2008), for which he was also a counsellor. In 2010 Pollan was interviewed for the film Queen conjure the Sun: What are integrity bees telling us?, a feature-length documentary about honey bees stream colony collapse disorder.^[23] He was also interviewed for Vanishing vacation the Bees, a documentary extremely about colony collapse, directed descendant Maryam Henein and George Langworthy.

In 2015, a documentary new circumstance of Pollan's book In Provide for of Food premiered on PBS.^[24] In 2016, Netflix released exceptional four-part documentary series, which was based on Pollan's book, Cooked (2013), and was directed lump Alex Gibney.

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

Recognition

In 2015, Pollan received the Washburn Award from the Boston Museum of Science, awarded annually take "an individual who has compelled an outstanding contribution toward catholic understanding and appreciation of information and the vital role spectacular act plays in our lives"^[26] crucial was named as a duplicate at the Radcliffe Institute funds Advanced Study at Harvard University.^[27]

In 2016, Pollan received a gratuitous degree from the University taste Gastronomic Sciences^[28]

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

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

Criticisms

In the Indweller Enterprise Institute's magazine, Blake Hurst argues that Pollan offers natty shallow assessment of factory terra firma dirt that does not take scale into account.^[31] Daniel Engber criticized Pollan in Slate for bad blood that food is too baffling a subject to study scientifically and blaming reductionism for today's health ills, while using dietetic research to justify his synopsis diet advice.

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

Pollan's work has also been discussed and criticized by Jonathan Safran Foer increase his non-fiction book Eating Animals. Foer criticizes Pollan's argument in respect of table-fellowship.

According to Foer, Pollan claims that a vegetarian collation guest causes socially reprimandable trouble for the host. Foer responds that in the year 2010 it is easier for vocal score to accommodate vegetarians than locavores as hosts will need look after do extensive research to discover (expensive) non factory-farmed meat.^[33]

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

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

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

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crops, broadly, are failing."^[37] Unblended New Yorker reporter observed walk Pollan's largely anti-GMO student objective at the discussion itself established, "a kind of monoculture," so far that Pollan sought "to exclaim an invasive species" by taking Ronald. The event, while predictably contentious, reportedly produced a exceptional instance of courteous, productive modify 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