Michael Pollan

A foodist. And the idea they don't want young farmers to hear from somebody like me is a sign of, I think, insecurity. Anyway, but I thought I was done after I did that. I wrote several books on food. In addition to Omnivore's Dilemma, there was In Defense of Food and Food Rules. Botany of Desire had a lot of material on food. So I thought I had said what I had to say.

A foodist. And the idea they don't want young farmers to hear from somebody like me is a sign of, I think, insecurity. Anyway, but I thought I was done after I did that. I wrote several books on food. In addition to Omnivore's Dilemma, there was In Defense of Food and Food Rules. Botany of Desire had a lot of material on food. So I thought I had said what I had to say.

And there was a whole generation of young food journalists who had taken the baton. And that was wonderful to see. And I moved on to other topics. But then when the pandemic hit... something really interesting and revealing happened with the food system.

And there was a whole generation of young food journalists who had taken the baton. And that was wonderful to see. And I moved on to other topics. But then when the pandemic hit... something really interesting and revealing happened with the food system.

And there was a whole generation of young food journalists who had taken the baton. And that was wonderful to see. And I moved on to other topics. But then when the pandemic hit... something really interesting and revealing happened with the food system.

And you'll remember, you have to go back to those early days in March and April and May of 2020, when suddenly you couldn't find food in the supermarket. The shelves were bare. And at the same time, you saw on your television this incredible split screen, the bare shelves on one side, on the other, farmer's euthanizing chickens and pigs and spilling milk out on the ground.

And you'll remember, you have to go back to those early days in March and April and May of 2020, when suddenly you couldn't find food in the supermarket. The shelves were bare. And at the same time, you saw on your television this incredible split screen, the bare shelves on one side, on the other, farmer's euthanizing chickens and pigs and spilling milk out on the ground.

And you'll remember, you have to go back to those early days in March and April and May of 2020, when suddenly you couldn't find food in the supermarket. The shelves were bare. And at the same time, you saw on your television this incredible split screen, the bare shelves on one side, on the other, farmer's euthanizing chickens and pigs and spilling milk out on the ground.

And the reason was that our food system, it turns out we have two food systems. One supplies supermarkets and consumers and the other supplies institutions, whether it's restaurants or schools or factories. And that one completely shut down because nobody was going to work or school. And so everyone got all their food at the supermarket or tried to, and the system crashed for a period of time.

And the reason was that our food system, it turns out we have two food systems. One supplies supermarkets and consumers and the other supplies institutions, whether it's restaurants or schools or factories. And that one completely shut down because nobody was going to work or school. And so everyone got all their food at the supermarket or tried to, and the system crashed for a period of time.

And the reason was that our food system, it turns out we have two food systems. One supplies supermarkets and consumers and the other supplies institutions, whether it's restaurants or schools or factories. And that one completely shut down because nobody was going to work or school. And so everyone got all their food at the supermarket or tried to, and the system crashed for a period of time.

And the two systems don't relate to one another because we've had such concentration. So the kinds of companies that are selling, say, liquefied eggs in the institutional food chain didn't have the containers to sell their eggs in a supermarket.

And the two systems don't relate to one another because we've had such concentration. So the kinds of companies that are selling, say, liquefied eggs in the institutional food chain didn't have the containers to sell their eggs in a supermarket.

And the two systems don't relate to one another because we've had such concentration. So the kinds of companies that are selling, say, liquefied eggs in the institutional food chain didn't have the containers to sell their eggs in a supermarket.

Ditto toilet paper. Remember the famous toilet paper shortage? There were giant rolls. Well, you know, the way that toilet paper is sold to institutions is on these giant rolls and they couldn't sell those in the supermarket chain. So we really learned something about the system, that it was highly centralized and specialized and really brittle. And that, of course, is the cost of efficiency.

Ditto toilet paper. Remember the famous toilet paper shortage? There were giant rolls. Well, you know, the way that toilet paper is sold to institutions is on these giant rolls and they couldn't sell those in the supermarket chain. So we really learned something about the system, that it was highly centralized and specialized and really brittle. And that, of course, is the cost of efficiency.

Ditto toilet paper. Remember the famous toilet paper shortage? There were giant rolls. Well, you know, the way that toilet paper is sold to institutions is on these giant rolls and they couldn't sell those in the supermarket chain. So we really learned something about the system, that it was highly centralized and specialized and really brittle. And that, of course, is the cost of efficiency.

You can get a very efficient system, and we have that in some ways, but it's only efficient if there are no shocks. And as soon as you get a shock, the brittleness of the system reveals itself. The other thing that revealed itself was the political power behind the food system.

You can get a very efficient system, and we have that in some ways, but it's only efficient if there are no shocks. And as soon as you get a shock, the brittleness of the system reveals itself. The other thing that revealed itself was the political power behind the food system.

You can get a very efficient system, and we have that in some ways, but it's only efficient if there are no shocks. And as soon as you get a shock, the brittleness of the system reveals itself. The other thing that revealed itself was the political power behind the food system.