Michael Pollan

"Food science is like surgery in 1650...it's nice to watch."
-Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan presented the 2010 Farwell Distinguished Lecture at Luther College this evening. Although the experience does not top the experience of listening to John McCain or Barrack Obama, Michael Pollan did present several issues that sat well with me. (as I can specifically apply them to educational reform)

No. 1- Reform begins as a idea and begins to take shape when people actually ACT on that idea. Take for example Brown vs. Board of Education; it began as an idea in the minds of people like Fredrick Douglas and continued to grow until the government felt the full pressure of the Civil Right's Movement in the 1960s.

No. 2- Reform will not happen unless we have lawyers and politicians who understand the complex system that is in place. (and those people will not be in power unless voters put them there)

No. 3- Michael Pollan's favorite label for many of the processed foods that we eat is "edible food-like substances". My question...is the education system a education-like substance? Where someone in power has decided what is important and we are given that and the rest is "knowledge epidemic-inducing" filler.

Think about it. I don't necessarily have the right answers, but we can all question.