I’m a big fan of the New York Times online. I’ve grown up with the New York Times always on the kitchen table – that is until I went off to school – and I’ve really enjoyed being able to read the paper online, as I find it much more consumable while at a computer, or more recently on my iPhone.
This last week they had an excellent article in the Magazine section written by Michael Pollan about the current state of our nation’s food system and what the next president should take into consideration about the challenges that will most likely face us in the coming decade.
I can’t recommend the article enough, though this is one instance where the paper version might be more digestible as the online article is 9 pages long (impossible on an iPhone, manageable on a computer over a few sittings).
One of the things that Pollan does is suggest a few White House specific activities that I think make a ton of sense and could help spread a message to the rest of the country (assuming people still pay attention to what the president actually does and not just what the news agencies report on what he says).
“..there is the power of the example you set in the White House. If what’s needed is a change of culture in America’s thinking about food, then how America’s first household organizes its eating will set the national tone..
“..You should make a point of the fact that every night you’re in town, you join your family for dinner in the Executive Residence — at a table… And you should also let it be known that the White House observes one meatless day a week — a step that, if all Americans followed suit, would be the equivalent, in carbon saved, of taking 20 million midsize sedans off the road for a year.
“..Let the White House chef post daily menus on the Web, listing the farmers who supplied the food, as well as recipes.
“.. tear out five prime south-facing acres of the White House lawn and plant in their place an organic fruit and vegetable garden. When Eleanor Roosevelt did something similar in 1943, she <started a> movement that ended up making a substantial contribution to feeding the nation in wartime. By the end of the war, more than 20 million home gardens were supplying 40 percent of the produce consumed in America.
The article gives a lot of detail about the current state of the American food system – a system I feel is quite broken – and he provides some great recommendations for how to make changes for the better.
This is one area that should be of interest to everyone and whether you agree with Pollan or not, the article provides an excellent platform for a real discussion.