the adventures of buckaroo bonzai
I was eating at Cali n’ Titos today with Lisa.
The conversation speaks for itself.
Customer: What are you eating? Lisa: An empanada. Customer: An enchilada? Lisa: No, an empanada. It’s got vegetables inside. Customer: What’s in it? Lisa: Vegetables. You can get them with ground beef too. Customer: What’s it called again? Lisa: EM-PA-NA-DA.
May 26, 2006
An Open Letter to Michael Pollan John Mackey, CEO, Whole Foods
-
June 12, 2006
My Letter to Whole Foods Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma
-
June 26, 2006
Detailed Reply to Pollan Letter John Mackey, CEO, Whole Foods
-
So far, so good…
Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
An interesting look into how plants have ensured their own survival through the ages by cultivating traits that are desirable to humans, who in turn, propagate these plants on a massive scale throughout the world. The subjects are the Apple, the Tulip, the Potato, and Marijuana. Each fascinate me in different ways, so I enjoyed his insight and analysis. For such a short book it’s very informative.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
This is Pollan’s most recent book. Basically, he spent serveral years tracing various aspects of the food supply chain in the U.S. and outlines the results of 4 meals: Industrial, pasture, organic, and hunter-gatherer. Although he was a bit unfair in his critique of the Whole Foods Market chain, for the most part this is a good book that is well worth a read.
The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler
If any book has had a profound impact on my life, it’s probably this one. I don’t quite subscribe to the doom-and-gloom scenario that Kunstler paints here but most of what he writes is based on hard facts, science, and reputable sources. To sum it up: When oil prices get much higher, we’re all pretty much fucked. The signs are already appearing, but most people aren’t paying attention. Hello! The world oil supply is on a decline — as in, we’re running out, right now. Better start preparing. My plans for the near future have changed quite a bit since I read this book (more on that later).
Kunstler also maintains a somewhat funny (if in a dark way) blog called Clusterfuck Nation. Keep an eye on that one.
I recently finished reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. While it was a very interesting and educational book, I couldn’t help but think he was too harsh on Whole Foods. During several of his rants I kept thinking “Does Whole Foods really do this? Do they really promote no-name Wal-Mart-ish industrialized organic agriculture?”.
Whole Foods has responded to Mr. Pollan’s criticism.
And it’s a good read.
I still recommend the book highly, although I think Mr. Pollan has lost some credibility.
On a related note, some regional managers from Whole Foods were down here at EARTH this past week. I found out that not only does Whole Foods get their bananas from EARTH, they have also started buying organic mangoes in the last year or so. One of Costa Rica’s ex-presidents stipulated in his will that his farm land be given to a good cause, and his wife chose to donate it to EARTH. It has been converted into organic mango production with Whole Foods as the buyer.
Additionally, two of the five WF managers that I met were in the process of reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Both of them thought, rightly so, that the book was too critical of Whole Foods. One said (to paraphrase) “If he has such a problem with shipping food around the country, he shouldn’t be shipping his books around the country either.” Ha.
As far as I know, all of EARTH’s profits from their partnership with Whole Foods go directly back into funding the university. Whole Foods has also set up a half-million-dollar program in Guatemala and Costa Rica called the Whole Planet Foundation that gives micro loans to impoverished entrepreneurs so that they can get off their feet and start a business.
So when you read the letter above, take into consideration these things — Whole Foods really does put their money where their mouth is. It’s a shame that Mr. Pollan based his criticisms of Whole Foods on assumptions and hearsay, instead of going to the source.
If only Whole Foods would put a store in Athens…
This is tragic. From Grist.org:
Why the nation’s largest community garden must become a Wal-Mart warehouse
The fate of LA’s South Central Community Garden, the largest of its kind in the United States, looks fairly straightforward: It sits on private property, and its owner wants to sell it for development. The 300 or so families who garden there, most of whom by all accounts live under the poverty line, will have to find a new source of food. If the owner/developer, one Ralph Horowitz, has decided to erect a massive Wal-Mart warehouse there, well, that’s just the way it goes.
From LA City Beat:
Trouble in the Garden
The 350 families who banded together as the South Central Farmers transformed an industrial dump into a jungle paradise. But now they’re being evicted. The contrast with community gardens elsewhere in the city is shocking. These aren’t tiny weekend projects with a few tomatoes and California poppies. The 330 spaces here are large, 20 X 30 feet, many of them doubled- and tripled-up into larger plots, crammed with a tropical density of native Mesoamerican plants – full-grown guava trees, avocados, tamarinds, and palms draped in vines bearing huge pumpkins and chayotes, leaf vegetables, corn, seeds like chipilin grown for spice, and rank upon rank of cactus cut for nopales. The families who work these plots are all chosen to receive one because they are impoverished by USDA standards, and use them to augment their household food supply. These are survival gardens.
I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re just all going to hell, when money is more important than an inner-city community farm. Read the article at the LA City Beat for the most in-depth coverage that I’ve been able to find. It’s a convoluted story going back to the 80’s.
Bad Behavior has blocked 671 access attempts in the last 7 days.