Ballroom Marfa Art Fund

Newsroom

Michael Pollan at Marfa Dialogues 2012

24 Apr 2013

Michael Pollan’s new book, Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, is now available for purchase, and the self-described “nature writer who writes about this particular part of nature that we don’t think of as nature” is popping up all over the place, from The Colbert Report to the Field Lab.

In September of 2012 Pollan joined us here in Far West Texas for the second Marfa Dialogues symposium. He and Hamilton Fish had a sprawling conversation in front of a packed house at the Crowley Theater, the entirety of which is available for your viewing pleasure up above.

The move comes as lawmakers are looking to rein in Medicaid spending

The Wildcats took a 42 38 halftime lead, having held UCLA to just 38.

Zardari is saying do not expose our corruption otherwise we will expose yours.
Cameron also comes with the bonus that he knows new offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan’s scheme because Shanahan was the Browns’ offensive coordinator last year.
Super Bowl XXXVI was the most memorable Super Bowl for Patriots’ fans, and for patriots in general.
8 yards per attempt; passer rating of 106.

Outlook: Third team All Area catcher Christiana Roberts is a big graduation loss, but considering the Spartans return, virtually, all the rest of last year’s squad, things are looking quite promising for Immaculata.

Michael Pollan in NY Mag: “Food is ecological as well as sociological”

17 Apr 2013

image

Michael Pollan’s new book, Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, hits the shelves next week. Here’s an excerpt from his excellent Q&A with New York Magazine‘s Adam Platt, available in full on their website …

Did you ever dream that you’d find yourself as a sort of high priest of food?

I’m a little troubled by that role. I don’t want to be the food superego for people. I don’t have the answers, and I really want people to work this stuff out on their own.

I’m not a scientist. Like a lot of journalists, I go out and talk to a lot of people who know much more than I do. And I’m always surprised when they think I’ve got something new to tell them after I’ve published. You’ll talk to a bunch of scientists, you’ll write a story about what they’re doing, and then they’ll invite you to their next meeting as if you have original information. You don’t. What you have is the ability to synthesize and tell a story.

What’s that story?
That food is ecological as well as sociological—that the way we eat is connected to the environment and to the health of the land.

My early work really did grow out of gardens. My idea was that you could understand a relationship to the natural world by looking in these places Americans hadn’t looked very much—the garden, the dinner plate, the farm. In general, when Americans want to think about nature, they go to wild places. And I’ve always thought of myself as a nature writer who doesn’t like to go camping or go too far from home. But nature is right here. It’s right under our noses.”

There’s so much more over at New York

Pollan spoke to a packed house here in Far West Texas as part of Marfa Dialogues 2012. If you’re in the mood for more, take a listen to Joe Nick Patoski’s interview with him over at Marfa Public Radio.