Michael Pollan on 'Democracy Now!'

by Katherine Gustafson · 2010-02-10 11:30:00 UTC
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Amy Goodman interviewed Michael Pollan on Democracy Now! on Monday (video below). The program starts with a little mash-up from Food Inc., and after that the interview lasts the rest of the hour.

If you want to know what all the Pollan-ites are so riled up about, watch this video. Pollan talks about the industry's brilliant — if sinister — manipulation of health claims, the debate about high-fructose corn syrup, how the American diet relates to our health care industry and a whole manner of other heavy-weight topics.

While Goodman makes a point of saying she wants an interview free of sound bites, I will take the liberty of giving you a sneak peak of what's inside.

  • On how the industry jumps on health claims to motivate people to buy more of something: Pollan says that the only way to avoid getting manipulated by this charade is to stay away from "any food you see advertised on television."

  • On high-fructose corn syrup: Pollan admits to feeling responsible for creating a "health claim for sugar" by saying that people should avoid HFCS. "If you can avoid high-fructose corn syrup you're probably avoiding a heavily processed food that you should avoid anyway ... But is it worse than sugar? Not necessarily."

  • On "slow food": Pollan reflects that when women entered the workforce in huge numbers starting in 1970s, wages declined and time became more precious, making cheap, processed food very attractive. "In general, the more you process a food the less nutritional value it has... But we're attracted to this because we're all so busy."

  • On health care: Three-quarters of the money we spend on health care goes to treat preventable chronic diseases, many of which are related to our diets. "Right now there's no powerful interest in this country that really cares about our health, I'm sorry to say," Pollan says. "The health care industry profits mightily from the sickness of the population."

As you can see, this interview packs a powerful punch, and those are only a few of the topics they discuss. So carve out an hour to see what all the fuss is about. Click here to view in the interview.

Photo: AleBonvini via Flickr

Katherine Gustafson is a freelance writer and editor with a background in international nonprofit organizations.
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