Open Letter to President-Elect Obama,
Farmer-in-Chief

Once in a while someone comes along with the gift of true clarity in thought and clarity in communication. Michael Pollan is one such individual. You can see the titles of some of his books on food and eating in our book reference section.

In an open letter to President-Elect Obama, Michael addressed the salient topics relating to the current state of our food supply and why urgent changes are needed. Nothing less than the future of our country and mankind as a whole is at stake.

Included here is the first paragraph of his letter.

"It may surprise you to learn that among the issues that will occupy much of your time in the coming years is one you barely mentioned during the campaign: food. Food policy is not something American presidents have had to give much thought to, at least since the Nixon administration--the last time high food prices presented a serious political peril. Since then, federal policies to promote maximum production of the commodity crops (corn, soybeans, wheat and rice) from which most of our supermarket foods are derived have succeeded impressively in keeping prices low and food more or less off the national political agenda. But with a suddenness that has taken us all by surprise, the era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close. What this means is that you, like so many other leaders through history, will find yourself confronting the fact--so easy to overlook these past few years--that the health of a nation's food system is a critical issue of national security. Food is about to demand your attention."

You can read it in its entirety as it appeared in the New York Times, and also posted on Pollan's own Website.

Not only did Obama read the article, he also responded to it during an interview with Time's Joe Klein. (Read the full interview with Klein.)