“We Can’t Be Eating More Meat — The Planet Can’t Take It”

October 16, 2012 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Michael Pollan, who tells us to “eat food, not too much, mostly plants,” has a new Ask Me Anything on Reddit. Some excerpts follow.

________________________________

Question:

If it turns out that a diet based almost entirely on animal fat and protein is best for us and at the same time that such a diet is the worst for the planet, what should we do?

Michael Pollan

We can’t be eating more meat — the planet can’t take it. Plant-based diets are the key, meat should be treated more as a flavor principle –as it is in traditional Asian diets– and not the center of the plate. To exonerate saturated fat is not to say we should all eat 16 ounce steaks! plants are still better for you, and lots of red meat is correlated with higher rates of cancer.

________________________________

Question:

How do you feel about Mayor Bloomberg’s soda ban?

Michael Pollan:

On Mayor Bloomberg’s ban– it’s not on soda, but only big cups. And I think it’s an experiment we need to try. The proof is in the pudding. But the soda companies are trying to stop him, as they are trying to stop soda tax proposals nationwide. Can we just give one of these plans a real-world test? Reducing soda consumption will do more for the public health than just about anything else we can do in the food area– let’s test to see if that’s true!

________________________________

Question:

I am not sure how to word my question but I would like to know exactly you came to write about food? This is a very selfish question because I myself have a yearning to do the same as you. I began thinking I should major in Food Science but after taking an English class and writing many papers on GMOs I”m not sure if that was the right choice. So I was wondering if you had any advice for a hopeful food writer, or specifically what majors I should look into. I was thinking about possibly double majoring in English and Anthropology.

Michael Pollan:

I was an english major, so obviously had no plan to write about food– I might have taken biology if I did. But I followed my curiosity, and a passion for gardening –and growing food– turned into a series of essays on what gardens have to teach us and this eventually brought be around to looking at agriculture. You can predict these things. But English and Anthro is a great prep for just about anything.

Tags: