Last week, author (and gardener) Michael Pollan spoke at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum about his latest book ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’. The event was a part of the Arboretum’s 2007 Public Policy Program.

Curious about who grows our food and how it gets on our dinner plate, Pollan explored farms, feedlots and forests. The result is a fascinating (and sometimes very amusing) journey through our country’s confounding food landscape. By the end of first chapter, I was in love with ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’ (Seriously, who knew the history of corn could be so fascinating?) and could hardly wait for Pollan’s presentation.

Thursday, the lecture hall was packed and I was anxious to learn how I could turn this knowledge into action. I expected to be blown away, but, to my great disappointment, instead of expanding upon the book, Pollan merely summarized it (MPR will broadcast his talk later in the week).

Food scientists, nutritionists, cattle ranchers and local chefs, several times my attention shifted to the who’s who around the room. I suddenly realized that these were the folks working behind the scenes to create a sustainable food chain. Pollan was but a megaphone for their message.

The real hero of the day was Mary Vidas, the arboretum’s public policy manager who brought together all these people from their diverse, yet interconnected disciplines. She was surprised when Robyn and I asked for an interview, but we were curious about something as simple as plants and something as complicated as public policy intersected. (You can hear our interview by pressing the play button on the right. Don’t forget to use your headphones if you’re at the office.). As it turns out, we often take both for granted.

What did you think of ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma?’ Where do you see plants and public policy intersecting? Do you know where your dinner comes from?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 12:35 pm and is filed under Books + Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.