The Corniest People

My classes were canceled for the past couple of days due to the fact that we're no longer allowed to set up our tent on the grounds of the building, so we're looking for a new classroom space. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

This unexpected vacation meant that I was able to go listen to one of my favorite writers, Michael Pollan, speak at CAL yesterday afternoon on his new book "The Omnivores Dilemma: the Cornification of America", which was exciting as heck for me. Just to be in the same (suprisingly small and very crowded) lecture room as Michael Pollan and Alice Waters was quite a thrill. The research is also pretty fascinating and very relevant to all the food security issues we're facing as a nation and a world. Basically, the premise of the book is trying to figure out why every part of the American diet starts off in a corn field in Iowa. From corn feed to corn syrup, Americans are really children of corn. The entire industrial food chain is corn-based. But why? And why has this lead to decreased food prices, an increased caloric consumption for the average American of 200 calories per day since the 60s, sodas twice as large as in the 50's and a glut of corn so great that we need to get rid of it by feeding 70% of it to livestock and cars? Interesting stuff. Check his lecture schedule out if you want to hear more, the book comes out next week and he's giving signings and talks all around California, New York, and even Boston. His New York Times pieces are fun to read, as well as his books, too...he approaches everything from a pretty middle-of-the-road, but-very-curious standpoint that is engaging and funny. And that's enough plugging for today. Corn cobs. Yum.

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