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Co-Sponsored by ISEES and Seward Co-op |
Welcome to the Food Politics Reading Group Website! ISEES staff members Emily Pullins and Lark Weller invite all to join the ISEES reading group. The group's focus will be on major publications that have addressed issues in sustainable agriculture, food security and health. The reading group, co-sponsored by the Seward Community Co-op, is open to all interested people.
This site
contains information about our titles, suggested questions for discussion
during each reading group session, and resources related to each title.
All of the reading group meetings will be held at a special room provided
for us by the Seward Co-op,
at its location in the Seward Neighborhood of Minneapolis (2111 Franklin
Ave., 612-338-2465), from 6:00-7:00pm (meetings may run longer if people
would like to extend discussions). Remember: all are invited to attend
these meetings (as few or as many as you're able), so bring a friend!
Wednesday,
June 26
Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods,
by Gary Paul Nabhan (W.W. Norton & Company, 2002) 330 pp.
Questions for Discussion
1. How has reading this book changed your understanding of “food politics”?
2. The author is an agricultural scientist by training. How do you think that his scientific background influenced his observations and activism around plant genetic resources? What does he think of scientific work now? How does he use science?
3. Do you agree that the author emphasizes an essential link between human culture, food and the environment? If so, where do you see him making this argument most strongly? Do you agree that there is an essential relationship here?
4. As you know, the book is entitled, “Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods.” This is striking in that individuals must first define “home” in order for the title to bear significance of one “arriving” or “returning” there to eat. In your view, is this book equally about changing our consumption habits as it is about changing our definitions of--and relations to--home (where we live, where we come from, where we feel comfortable)?
5. There is a lot of reference to genetic engineering in the text. What is the relationship (or tension), according to the author, between conserving plant genetic resources and developments in the genetic engineering of crops? What are your views/experiences on this subject?
Resources
Basic
intro to book by publisher
NPR
Interview with Gary Nabhan (requires RealPlayer)
Interview
of Gary Nabhan in 1994, by Omni Magazine
Information about
Gary Nabhan at Center for Sustainable Environments (where he is Director)
Information
about Gary Nabhan as Pew Fellow, Program in Conservation and the Environment
(1990)
Whole Farm Co-op--resource for local goods. http://wholefarmcoop.com/index.html
Wednesday,
July 31
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, by Eric
Schlosser (Perennial, 2002) 383 pp.
Questions
for Discussion
1. Pick one part of the book that was a substantial eye-opener for you,
and prepare to explain to us in some depth why that particular section
stood out for you. What page(s) is this section on? Please contextualize
your response in your own life experience and knowledge. What will you
do with what you have learned in this one section?
2. How would you compare and contrast Schlosser's book with Nabhan's? What are the major similarities and differences in the content presented by these authors? How does their approach differ, in writing, research and intended audience? What does one author provide that the other does not?
3. What was your response to Schlosser's suggestion about what we should do with what we learned in this book, as laid out in the epilogue "Have it your way"? How does this differ from Nabhan's suggestions (if at all)?
4. Where in this book was it clear to you that your values differ from Schlosser's? On what issues would you ally yourself with Schlosser?
5. Minnesota
serves as a case study to which Schlosser's work can be applied: the farmers
and ranchers who have historically participated in this state's agricultural
economy are now facing serious troubles as a result of the increased urbanization
of the state, and the building of a "fast food nation" within
Minnesota. What evidence have you seen (through personal experiences,
legislation, media coverage, etc.) that Minnesota has/not learned how
to support both rural and urban existences in a healthy, sustainable manner?
Resources
Basic intro to the book by Salon e-Magazine
Interview of Eric Schlosser by powells.com
New
York Times
article (Saturday, July 20, 2002): USDA Recalls 19 million pounds ground
beef
NPR Fresh
Air Interview with Eric Schlosser, January 22, 2001 (search by date
or 'Schlosser') (requires RealPlayer)
NPR
All Things Considered on Meat Packing Industry by Eric Schlosser,
July 13, 2001 (scroll down the page to find interview called Meatpacking)
Eric
Schlosser's August 2001 article on meatpacking from Mother Jones
(PDF file)
October
2001 City Pages article on union issues within local meat packing
industry
Link
to Slow Food.com (international movement whose members believe "Our
defense should begin at the table with Slow Food. Let us rediscover the
flavors and savors of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects
of Fast Food.")
Wednesday,
August 28
The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World, by
Michael Pollan (Random House, 2001) 271 pp.
Questions for Discussion
1. In your opinion, how appropriate or complete is Pollan’s choice of four human desires and their correlating plants? Are there other desires (or plants that represent them) that you think should have been covered? If so, how would you suggest they be addressed?
2. Please come prepared to share what, in your opinion, the most striking excerpts of each chapter (history of the plant/associated human desire, omissions in Pollan's argument, etc.) were. Why were these passages so intriguing to you?
3. In each chapter, Pollan mentions that the human propagation of that chapter's selected plant has contributed not only to the spread of the plant throughout the world, but also to the weakening of that plant's genetic strength. How does this dichotomy affect his core argument: that plants have perhaps "domesticated" people, rather than vice versa, by making themselves indispensable to humans' achieving their desires?
4. One of the common themes of Pollan's work is the constant struggle of domesticity vs. wildness, order vs. disorder, Apollonian vs. Dionysian tendencies. How is evidence of this tension in the relationship of people and nature demonstrated by the current state of our current food system? Please provide examples.
5. All of
us can relate, to some degree, to Pollan's book--we have all at least
seen tulips and eaten apples, if not participated seriously in gardening
or considering the history of these plants' evolution in human lives.
What specific experiences in your life have contributed to your reaction
to "Botany of Desire"? How will the book affect your future
experiences with plants?
Resources
NPR
Interview with Michael Pollan (requires RealPlayer)
July 26, 2002--Democracy Now!
interview with Michael Pollan and Marion Nestle (requires RealPlayer)
PBS
Frontline Interview (written) with Michael Pollan on Modern Meat
PBS
Online Interview with Michael Pollan (written) on Botany of Desire
Recent
articles of note (can be made available for review in the ISEES office):
"Power
steer," Michael Pollan. New York Times Magazine, New York.
Mar 31, 2002; pg. 44 (13pp).
"Naturally," Michael Pollan. New York Times Magazine,
New York. May 13, 2001; pg. 30 (12 pp).
"Produce politics," Michael Pollan. New York Times Magazine,
New York. Jan 14, 2001; pg. 11 (2 pp).
Wednesday,
September 25
Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet, by Frances Moore
Lappe and Anna Lappe (J.P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2002) 448 pp.
Questions for Discussion
1. Please be prepared to discuss what the most striking parts of the book were to you. What were the strengths of the book? What were its weaknesses?
2. Do you agree with the authors' selection of the five thought traps (outlined on page 23)? With which do you most resonate or disagree? Do you think this approach--tying global hunger and poverty to these traps--is too simplistic? Why/not?
3. On page 32, the authors write that, "we must befriend fear to get at the root of the global predicament." What fears (they mustn't be personally-held) do you think contribute to the current state of the predominant food system? How can we get over these fears as individuals and communities?
4. How are the main themes of this book similar to our previous titles? How are they different? Please explain how you think this book compared to some of the others we have read.
5. How has
this book--and the others we have discussed--changed your understanding
of food politics in the US and abroad? Do you consider yourself more knowledgeable
about these issues than you were prior to our discussions? How useful
have our selections (generally chosen as intended for a popular audience)
been in educating you on these issues?
Resources
Webpage
outlining the book's topics, including related resources, by the authors
NPR
'Weekend Edition' Interview (requires RealPlayer)--scroll down to 'Diet
for a Small Planet'
Article
by the Lappes in the UN Chronicle
IdealsWork interview
with Frances Moore Lappe (text)
Review
in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Wednesday,
February, 2003
Food Politics:
How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health,
by Marion Nestle (U. of California Press, 2002) 480 pp.
Questions for Discussion
1. Pick one part of the book that was a substantial eye-opener for you, and prepare to explain to us in some depth why that particular section stood out for you. What page(s) is this section on? Please contextualize your response in your own life experience and knowledge. What will you do with what you have learned in this one section?
2. Part Four of the book (begins on page 219) discusses the author's evidence that nutritional supplements have been deregulated to such a point that consumers' needs and rights to accurate product information are being undermined. The section includes a photograph (page 320) that displays herbal supplemented foods that can be found, for instance, at Seward Co-op. Particularly for those of you who shop at co-ops or natural foods stores, what was your reaction to Dr. Nestle's perspective on foods being marketed (often for a price premium) as supplements?
3. In my opinion, one of the most political current food issues is that of genetic engineering; I noticed that Nestle didn't cover the issue in much detail. Do you think this exclusion is appropriate? Why/not? Are there are other current food politics issues that you feel were not addressed to the extent they should have been?
4. How has this book changed your understanding of "food politics"?
Resources
Webpage
outlining book's topics--includes background interviews, reviews,
etc.
Letter to Dr. Nestle
from Sugar Association, Inc. lawyers (in response to Food Politics)
Dr.
Nestle's response to Sugar Association, Inc. lawyers