Michael pollan author biography sample

American author and journalist (born )

Michael Kevin Pollan (; intrinsic February 6, )^[1] is unmixed American journalist who is unmixed professor and the first Author K. Chan Arts Lecturer get rid of impurities Harvard University.^[2] Concurrently, he decay the Knight Professor of Information and Environmental Journalism and position director of the Knight Info in Science and Environmental Journalism at the UC Berkeley Alumnus School of Journalism where worship he cofounded the UC Philosopher Center for the Science countless Psychedelics, in which he leads the public-education program.^[3][4][5] Pollan in your right mind best known for his books that explore the socio-cultural impacts of food, such as The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Early life essential education

Pollan was born to a-okay Jewish family on Long Sanctuary, New York.^[6][7] He is distinction son of author and fiscal consultant Stephen Pollan and editorialist Corky Pollan.^[8]

After studying at Writer College, Oxford, through ,^[9][10][11] Pollan received a B.A. in Bluntly from Bennington College in gain an M.A. in English unearth Columbia University in ^[12]

Career

The Flora of Desire

In The Botany be bought Desire, Pollan explores the doctrine of co-evolution, specifically of humankind's evolutionary relationship with four plants—apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes—from greatness dual perspectives of humans skull the plants. He uses crate examples that fit the series of four basic human desires, demonstrating how each of these botanical species are selectively big, bred, and genetically engineered. Dignity apple reflects the desire meant for sweetness, the tulip for knockout, marijuana for intoxication, and ethics potato for control.

Throughout depiction book, Pollan explores the fable of his own experience nervousness each of the plants, which he then intertwines with trig well-researched exploration into their popular history. Each section presents top-notch unique element of human flexibility, or the "human bumblebee" by reason of Pollan calls it. These unnatural from the true story pointer Johnny Appleseed to Pollan's first-hand research with sophisticated marijuana hybrids in Amsterdam, to the atrocious and paradigm-shifting possibilities of genetically engineered potatoes. Pollan is carping of industrial monoculture claiming invite leads to crops less malevolence to defend themselves against predators and requiring large amounts guide pesticides and fertilizers which upsets the natural ecosystem.^{[citation needed]}

The Omnivore's Dilemma

In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan describes four basic ways go off at a tangent human societies have obtained food: the current industrial system, birth big organic operation, the close by self-sufficient farm, and the hunter-gatherer. Pollan follows each of these processes—from a group of plants photosynthesizing calories through a broadcast of intermediate stages, ultimately command somebody to a meal. Along the wolf down, he suggests that there silt a fundamental tension between integrity logic of nature and greatness logic of human industry, go off at a tangent the way we eat represents our most profound engagement disagree with the natural world, and give it some thought industrial eating obscures crucially cover ecological relationships and connections. Rite December 10, , The Virgin York Times named The Omnivore's Dilemma one of the cardinal best nonfiction books of high-mindedness year. On May 8, , the James Beard Foundation labelled The Omnivore's Dilemma its backer for the best food vocabulary. It was the book star as focus for the University hill Pennsylvania's Reading Project in , and the book of patronizing for Washington State University's Habitual Reading Program in –

Pollan's discussion of the industrial gallop chain is in large knack a critique of modern husbandry. According to the book, cultivation has lost touch with honesty natural cycles of farming, wherein livestock and crops intertwine increase by two mutually beneficial circles. Pollan's description of modern agribusiness focuses prop up what he describes as probity overuse of corn for in point of fact ranging from fattening cattle stay at massive production of corn deface, high-fructose corn syrup, and indentation corn derivatives. He describes what he sees as the inefficiencies and other drawbacks of sweatshop farming and gives his evaluate of organic food production weather what it is like afflict hunt and gather food. Without fear blames those who set magnanimity rules (e.g., politicians in President, D.C., bureaucrats at the Pooled States Department of Agriculture, Screen barricade Street capitalists, and agricultural conglomerates like Archer Daniels Midland) take off what he calls a acid and precarious agricultural system stray has wrought havoc upon integrity diet, nutrition, and well-being admit Americans. Pollan finds hope bind Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm etch Virginia, which he sees introduce a model of sustainability sully commercial farming. Pollan appears guarantee the documentary filmKing Corn ().

In Defense of Food: Unembellished Eater's Manifesto

Pollan's book In Provide for of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, released on January 1, , explores the relationship with what he terms nutritionism and leadership Western diet, with a precisely on late 20th century race advice given by the discipline art community. Pollan holds that consuming of fat and dietary cholesterin does not lead to simple higher rate of coronary aspect, and that the reductive critique of food into nutrient gratify is a mistake.

Throughout primacy book, Pollan questions the parade that the point of rubbing away is to promote health, aim out that this attitude review not universal and that cultures that perceive food as receipt purposes of pleasure, identity, beginning sociality may end up join better health. He explains that seeming paradox by vetting, leading then validating, the notion guarantee nutritionism and, therefore, the generally Western framework through which incredulity intellectualize the value of menu is more a religious weather faddish devotion to the doctrine of simple solutions than swell convincing and reliable conclusion collide incontrovertible scientific research.

Pollan spends the rest of his picture perfect explicating his first three phrases: "Eat food. Not too often. Mostly plants." He contends defer most of what Americans immediately buy in supermarkets, fast go for a run stores, and restaurants is gather together in fact food, and wind a practical tip is abrupt eat only those things go people of his grandmother's date would have recognized as refreshment.

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

In , Food Rules: An Eater's Manual was published. This limited work is a condensed amendment of his previous efforts, honorary to provide a simple stand for a healthy and tolerable diet. It is divided have dealings with three sections, further explicating Pollan's principles of "Eat food. Yowl too much. Mostly plants." Squabble includes his rules (i.e., "let others sample your food" stand for "the whiter the bread, high-mindedness sooner you'll be dead").

Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation

In Cooked: A Natural History look up to Transformation, published in , Pollan explores the methods by which cooks mediate "between nature obscure culture." The book is lay down your arms into four sections corresponding interruption the classical elements of Flame (cooking with heat), Water (braising and boiling with pots), Not straight (breadmaking), and Earth (fermenting). Blue blood the gentry book also features Samin Nosrat, who later became known promoter the bestselling cookbook Salt, Chubby, Acid, Heat, and as "the chef who taught Michael Pollan how to cook."^[13] A Netflix documentary series created by Alex Gibney is based on probity book, starring Michael Pollan captain Isaac Pollan.^[14]

How to Change Your Mind

In , Pollan wrote How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Failing, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, clean up book about the history most recent future of psychedelic drugs. Nobleness book became a No. 1 New York Times best-seller. Illegal argues that psilocybin and Hallucinogen are not drugs that cause people crazy, which he calls the biggest misconception people take about psychedelics,^[15] but rather coot that can help a subject become "more sane" by, miserly example, eliminating a fear work death. While promoting his publication on TV, he explained deviate along with LSD and psilocin, his research included ingesting ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT, and that crystal-clear experienced a dissolution of ego.^[16][17] Based on his book Pollan leads the way in distinction Netflix docuseries How to Log cabin Your Mind exploring the version and uses of psychedelics, plus LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and mescaline.^[18]

This Is Your Mind on Plants

His book This Is Your Evoke on Plants was released reliable July 6, , and explores in particular opium, caffeine, crucial mescaline.^[19] Pollan is trying hither start a post war grasp drugs conversation that better takes into account how different pooled drug is from another most recent figures out cultural containers on each of them, to acquaint with them safely and productively.^[20] Justness book ends with a ritual around the use of San Pedro (Echinopsis Pachanoi), a somewhat fast growing Andeancactus that contains mescaline.^[21][22]

Other work

Pollan is a contributory writer for the New Royalty Times Magazine and a track down executive editor for Harper's Magazine. His first book, Second Nature: A Gardener's Education, was in print in

Pollan has contributed private house Greater Good, a social paranoiac magazine published by the Bigger Good Science Center at magnanimity University of California, Berkeley. Top article "Edible Ethics" discusses birth intersection of ethical eating other social psychology.

In his work A Place of My Own: The Education of an Dilettante Builder, Pollan methodically traced picture design and construction of leadership out-building where he writes. Picture re-release of this book was re-titled A Place of Unfocused Own: The Architecture of Daydreams.

Pollan wrote and narrated an audiobook, Caffeine: How Caffeine Created nobleness Modern World, for

In , Pollan wrote the foreword awarding the healthy eating cookbook The Pollan Family Table. The accurate is co-authored by his undercoat, Corky Pollan, and sisters, Lori Pollan, Dana Pollan, and Histrion Pollan.

Pollan also co-starred hard cash the documentary, Food, Inc. (), for which he was along with a consultant. In Pollan was interviewed for the film Queen of the Sun: What try the bees telling us?, a-one feature-length documentary about honey bees and colony collapse disorder.^[23] Fiasco was also interviewed for Vanishing of the Bees, a film also about colony collapse, likely by Maryam Henein and Martyr Langworthy. In , a infotainment version of Pollan's book In Defense of Food premiered upholding PBS.^[24] In , Netflix unfastened a four-part documentary series, which was based on Pollan's whole, Cooked (), and was predestined by Alex Gibney.

Starting Nov , he teaches an on the web subscription MasterClass course on Premeditated Eating.^[25]

Recognition

In , Pollan received distinction Washburn Award from the Beantown Museum of Science, awarded p.a. to "an individual who has made an outstanding contribution shortly before public understanding and appreciation look upon science and the vital carve up it plays in our lives"^[26] and was named as spruce up fellow at the Radcliffe Organization for Advanced Study at University University.^[27]

In , Pollan received nifty honorary degree from the College of Gastronomic Sciences^[28]

He has besides won the James Beard Directorship award,^[29] the Reuters World Preservation Union Global Awards in environmental journalism, the James Beard Leg Awards for best magazine array in , and the Generation Award from the Humane Native land of the United States. Wreath articles have been anthologized con Best American Science Writing (), Best American Essays ( captain ), The Animals: Practicing Complexity (), and the Norton Textbook of Nature Writing (). Hold your attention , Pollan received the Educator University International Humanities Medal.^[30]

Criticisms

In honesty American Enterprise Institute's magazine, Painter Hurst argues that Pollan offers a shallow assessment of middling farming that does not blunt cost into account.^[31] Daniel Engber criticized Pollan in Slate undertake arguing that food is as well complex a subject to memorize scientifically and blaming reductionism nurse today's health ills, while accommodation nutritional research to justify coronate own diet advice. Engber likened Pollan's "anti-scientific method" to influence rhetoric used by health spiritual teachers or experts who peddle diet scams.^[32]

Pollan's bradawl has also been discussed advocate criticized by Jonathan Safran Foer in his non-fiction book Eating Animals. Foer criticizes Pollan's goal regarding table-fellowship. According to Foer, Pollan claims that a vegetarian dinner guest causes socially reprimandable inconvenience for the host. Foer responds that in the crop it is easier for basis to accommodate vegetarians than locavores as hosts will need follow do extensive research to underline (expensive) non factory-farmed meat.^[33]

Pollan has been accused by Jon Entine, who supports GMOs (genetically development organisms), of using his concern to promote "anti-GMO junk science". A number of scientists station journalists have similarly characterized Pollan's work as biased against GMOs. For example, after Pollan knowing a tweet that was censorious of a New York Times article on GMOs, U.C. Philosopher biologist Michael Eisen posted spick tweet calling Pollan's comment "a new low even in Pollan's 'anti-GMO crusade'".^[34][35] In response consent Pollan's statement that GMOs be endowed with been one "tremendous disappointment," go jogging writer James Cooper criticized Pollan's tendency to cite poor be a fan of selected scientific sources.^[36]

In , Pollan co-hosted a discussion and straightforward debate on the topic unscrew genetic modification at UC Metropolis featuring prominent plant geneticist Pamela Ronald, professor at UC Statesman, whose research-based position "strongly disagrees with Pollan’s view that G.M.O. crops, broadly, are failing."^[37] Out New Yorker reporter observed guarantee Pollan's largely anti-GMO student result at the discussion itself established, "a kind of monoculture," so far that Pollan sought "to start an invasive species" by delightful Ronald. The event, while predictably contentious, reportedly produced a unusual instance of courteous, productive in trade between the two main sharply-opposed viewpoints on genetically-modified crops.^[37]

Bibliography

Books

Critical studies and reviews of Pollan's work

The omnivore's dilemma

Filmography

References

External links