Michael Pollan will serve up
a wealth of knowledge tonight
at 8 p.m. in the Granada to
kick off the UCSB Arts &
Lectures’ “Food for Thought”
series.

A leading figure in the
sustainable food movement,
Pollan was recognized by
TIME magazine as one of the
“100 most influential people of
2010.” Tonight’s lecture will
address problems within the
nation’s food industry raised
by Pollan’s newest best-selling
volume, Food Rules — An
Eater’s Manual.

National Public Radio
Morning Edition co-host
Renee Montagne will contribute
to Pollan’s discussion.
“It’s gotten to the point
where we don’t see foods anymore,
but instead look right
through them to the nutrients
(good and bad) they contain,
and, of course, to the calories,”
Pollan said in Food Rules. “But
for all the scientific and pseudoscientific
food baggage we’ve
taken on in recent years, we
still don’t know what we should
be eating.”

Currently the Knight
Professor of Science and
Environmental Journalism
at University of California
Berkeley, Pollan is the bestselling
author of books such
as The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A
Natural History of Four Meals
and In Defense of Food: An
Eater’s Manifesto.

“Pollan addresses [diet] concerns
and the culture of confusion
that surrounds nutritional
research and public health
campaigns to create a practical
application for real people who
want to eat real food,” an Arts
and Lectures press release said
of his visit tonight.

Pollan’s mission to expose
the practices of food corporations
— such as misleading
health claims by major corporations
as well as unsafe and
unhealthy food manufacturing
— has infiltrated its way into
Santa Barbara living as well.
In addition to extensivesustainable and organic food options in Santa
Barbara, Terry Thomas, UCSB residential dining
services nutritionist systems coordinator, said Pollan’s
philosophy is evident in the UCSB dining halls, where
26 percent of total produce purchases are local and
organic.

“I think what students should take away from listening
to Pollan speak is that what we put on our plates
really relates to what we are doing to the planet,”
Thomas said. “The simpler it is for you, the better it is
for you and planet Earth. We are what we eat. Eat well,
feel better, live longer. We can all make a difference
through the choices we make. I think that is a big part
of what [Pollan] is getting at.”

The Orfalea Foundation initiative, s’Cool Food, is
co-sponsoring Pollan’s talk. During his time in the
area, Pollan will also visit a local elementary school in
support of the program, which encourages local public
schools to implement cook-from-scratch meal plans.
Tickets for today’s lecture are $16 for students and
$33 for the general public.