The Roots of Sovereignty

On monday we linked the major Michael Pollan piece in the NYTimes, Dear Farmer-in-Chief. Comes now Joe Windish at the Moderate Voice with a tight breakdown of the totality of what Pollan was talking about.

In a long and serious article on food policy in today’s NYTimes Magazine, Michael Pollan writes that the era of cheap and abundant food is coming to a close. He says the next American president, no matter which man is elected, is going to find that the health of our nation’s food system is a critical issue of national security.

His argument is that, unless we address the industrial food system, we will not be able to make significant progress resolving the three main issues of our day — health care, energy independence and climate change:

Food policy hasn't exactly been a hot-button issue in the presidential election. And it's not going to be. We're sure to hear more about Joe the plumber, drill, drill, drill, or whatever the sanctioned, theatrical nonsense du jour. That said, most of the problems our food system faces today are because of its reliance on fossil fuels, and to the extent that our policies wring the oil out of the system and replace it with the energy of the sun, those policies will simultaneously improve the state of our health, our environment and our security.