At a UBC Farm fundraiser, author Michael Pollan will dish on the real-food revolution

Michael Pollan has a message for those who think they don’t have the time to meet the farmers who grow their food, let alone shop at farmers markets, plan meals, cook from scratch, or savour their own recipes.

The author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto (Penguin, 2008) will be in Vancouver on Saturday (June 6) for a fundraiser for UBC Farm. Pollan argues that if thousands of Latin, Asian, and other “ethnic” families across North America can find the time to grind spices by hand, cook greens for every meal, and avoid the Mickey D’s drive-through solution, so can the rest of us.

“This movement is only going to go so far if people don’t cook,” Pollan told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview from Minneapolis, a stop on his book tour. “For those who argue they don’t have the time, I’d tell them to take a good hard look at their lives. How much time do they spend in restaurants waiting for food to come? Or watching cooking shows on TV? Somehow in the past 10 years, we’ve found two hours a day to look at the Internet. Cooking is a political act, and it helps move agriculture in a different direction.”

Years ago as a journalist, Pollan had to disguise his agriculture stories as food stories in order to slip them past his editors. Now he’s waving the flag at the front of the 21st-century real-food revolution. Pollan’s best-selling books are part of a wave that includes Fast Food Nation (2001) and Super Size Me (2004). It’s a growing movement calling for food that’s better tasting, fairer to farmers, more humane, nutritious, and safe.

The message of In Defense of Food is simple. Pollan exhorts readers to seek out foods their grandparents would recognize. He also urges us to avoid anything that makes scientific-sounding super-food claims, such as “now with added omega-3s”. There’s no guarantee human-sculpted foods are good for us, he noted; on the other hand, real food such as broccoli raab (his favourite bitter green) is assuredly healthy.

The real-food movement, Pollan explained, has been catapulted into the spotlight by several food-safety scares that have occurred in the past few years. He said each one has been a teaching moment about the need to radically reform how food is grown and processed in North America.

“Julia Child didn’t talk about this,” he said. “Now chefs do.”

So do shoppers. In April alone, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued 29 processed-food alerts. They ranged from potential contamination of turkey bacon with listeria, pistachios with salmonella, ground beef with E. coli, and the undeclared inclusion of peanuts in rice puffs. Since January, the agency has issued a total of 111 alerts.

If food warnings represent some of the worst aspects of Canada’s food system, springtime on the UBC Farm is the polar opposite. Pollan’s book tour/fundraiser will help support the learning, research, and community-service missions of the 24-hectare facility, which receives no core funding from the university.

Pollan noted that many universities in the U.S. have similar facilities, and that they’re playing a key part in the revolution. But unlike the farms at Harvard, UC Santa Cruz, and other biggies, UBC’s farm is fighting for survival.

“To incorporate agriculture into universities—to take it seriously, to give people the opportunity to get their hands dirty—is very, very important,” Pollan said. “Agriculture has been taken out of the minds of urban people. To take it back is critical.”

On May 28, the farm was gearing up for its first public market of the season, taking place on June 13. Rhubarb, lettuce, radishes, bok choy, and herbs were ready to eat. Asparagus, spinach, carrots, and beets were close. Eggs—laid by the farm’s experimental breed of heartier free-range chickens (part Rhode Island Red, part Barred Plymouth Rock)—were resting warmly in hay. Several dozen apprentices, staff members, volunteers, elementary-school students, and visitors buzzed around like the research bees.

About 20,000 people visit the farm each year, according to Andrew Rushmere, spokesperson for Friends of the UBC Farm.

“All of our revenues come from donations, grants, and market sales,” Rushmere told the Straight in an interview near the farm’s chive garden, speaking about the importance of Pollan’s visit. “For a farm of this scale, with 35 paid employees this year and a growth rate of 50 percent a year, we need more money to sustain growth here. And we’re not getting it from UBC.”

Rushmere said he’s thankful for Pollan’s visit, and his help in promoting the importance of a new era for food. In the fall, UBC will move one step closer to deciding the fate of the farm—intact, condo-ized, or a combination—and thus the university’s hands-on involvement in the real-food movement.