July 07, 2008

"The Wendell Berry-Michael Pollan Right"

Just what do terms like "conservative" and "liberal" mean when it comes to food?

Rod "Crunchy Con" Dreher interviews Michael Pollan, and they start with the terminology issue.

Pollan: Frankly, it baffles me that this growing food movement doesn’t have more support on the Right. It’s very consistent with libertarianism, and it is very consistent with family values. Nevertheless, it is often portrayed in the media as a white-wine-sipping, arugula-chopping, liberal politic. Maybe you can answer for me why that is. . . .

I always saw myself as being to the Left of center, although whenever I write about food or nature, I feel like I am actually to the Right. Somebody just sent me a blog post from the Tory Anarchist—you’re mentioned in it, too—that says, “You might call it the Wendell Berry-Michael Pollan Right.” I had not seen all those words strung together before, but it points to why this issue mixes up the usual categories—and it should.


And they are off and running. Read the whole thing.

4 comments:

Beverly said...

What a great article…thank you for bringing it to our attention. And, thank you again for your blog…neighbor, I read you regularly. I particularly enjoyed this part:

POLLAN: … “When you pay for that supposedly elitist expensive grass-fed hamburger, you are paying the real cost. You are not depending on illegal-immigrant labor. You are not depending on government subsidies.
…You could produce a lot of cotton with slave labor, and it was a great deal. But if I’m selling cotton that I paid people a living wage to grow, and it costs 10 times more than your cotton, am I the elitist cotton seller? I don’t think so.”

Okay, so I'm left...perfectly natural for a 5th generation California girl, doncha think? LOL

Ya know, I just put together another raised bed for vegetables and wonder how much longer till the idea of “The Victory Garden” takes hold again. I’m not sure you’re old enough to remember them, but I’m all over the idea: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden) and used to watch a show on PBS by the same name (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/). Well, well; Googling “Victory Garden” for the links, I discovered things ARE coming back! Too cool!

And, I wonder if you’ve seen this blog: http://onestraw.wordpress.com/ …you might enjoy it.
- Beverly

Chas S. Clifton said...

Beverly, No, I am not old enough to remember Victory Gardens, but I'm familiar with the concept too, and it's a good one.

Steve Bodio said...

Good on both of them I say (as a conservative- Green- organic veggie growing conservationist hunter)...

Anonymous said...

This was very interesting. I've been watching various discussions about "locavores" and 100 mile dieters over the last few months. Rather interesting when you view all the ramifications. Especially for those who live in large cities or desert areas.

I think that all those lessons we "learned" in the 70's about ecology and the like will be popping up again. I've seen the start of it with recycling and thrift stores. Maybe those 'hippy' values my sons abhorred will stand us in good stead in the near future.