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The Food Police: A Well-Fed Manifesto About The Politics Of Your Plate (2013)

by Jayson Lusk(Favorite Author)

3.31 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0307987035 (ISBN13: 9780307987037)

languge

English

genre

Food & Cookbooks

publisher

Crown Forum

review 1: agricultural economist speaks up (and up and up -- some of his key points suffer a bit from excessive repetition) on behalf of modern efficient big farming and the beleaguered Big Food capitalists who aim to give us what we want and in opposition to nanny state liberals like Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, Michelle Obama, and (disclaimer: my friendly acquaintance) Kelly Brownell who want to ban trans fats, impose taxes on all things unhealthy, and hector you and your kids [via school lunch rules] into sharing their foodie preferences.Makes some I believe useful observations. The chapter on +/- of locavorism reminded me of one of those Slate columns on environmental impact of some choice such as cloth vs. plastic diapers -- always a lot more complex than it might appear at f... moreirst (e.g., local food didn't itself travel as far to market, but if to get everything you want YOU have to drive a car to Wal-Mart + Trader Joe's + farmer's market, and if your locality is suboptimal for growing a particular vegetable you want so it is done more inefficiently, the benefits of local may be offset). He's also fairly convincing on the theme that the same government many believe has messed up farm policy drastically is the one you'd be trusting to get everything right and be uncorrupted by lobbying when it comes to establishing food/nutrition tax and subsidy policy (Happy Meals no, local kale yes!).On the other hand........(a) a little too trusting for my taste in his own field -- a number of ideas are shot down in passing with something like "economics models have shown that a fat food tax would make hardly any difference in the obesity problem", (b) the worship of free choice (how dare some Ivy League educated elitist tell us what to eat) is logically consistent, but he doesn't really acknowledge extent to which that ship has sailed. Somebody is getting their stuff into the schools and advertised on kids' cartoons, and on the gov't. food plate, and receiving subsidies to grow this or not grow that. Only questions are who and for what foods. He sometimes paints it as organics/locavores/snobs vs. completely free market in which fully informed people with a range of choices and knowledge of their consequences just happen to pick stuff that costs less and is palatable and bravely accept the negative health and envtl. consequences that ensue. (c) doesn't address at all the "food desert" issue, which was surprising since he spends a lot of time chiding elitists for their lack of contact with the real world.such concerns notwithstanding, an interesting read. It's not as though he is a talk radio blowhard just issuing evidence-free rants about wanting his g.d. quarter-pounder with cheese no matter what some fancy-pants has to say about it. Michelle Obama's White House garden appears to have him unhinged, but for the most part it was sane and stays at least reasonably well tied to evidence and coherent argument.
review 2: Wendell Berry nailed it when he said, "Eating is an agricultural act." With that being said, anyone who eats should more actively participate in the food system. This book shines light on the often-overlooked side of the agricultural discussion. Jayson Lusk writes the book in an easy-to-follow format that will make you think and challenge you to seriously consider your opinions on food. Do yourself a favor and at least read the first chapter. I'd venture to guess if you're a red-blooded human being, you won't be able to put it down before you're through the whole thing. less

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