Puppet Master
We spend the hour with Michael Pollan, one of the countryâs leading writers and thinkers on food and food policy. Pollan has written several best-selling books about food, including “The Omnivoreâs Dilemma,” and “In Defense of Food: An Eaterâs Manifesto.” In his latest book, “Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation,” Pollan argues that taking back control of cooking may be the single most important step anyone can take to help make our food system healthier and more sustainable. “There is a deliberate effort to undermine food culture to sell us processed food,” Pollan says. “The family meal is a challenge if youâre General Mills or Kellogg or one of these companies, or McDonaldâs, because the family meal is usually one thing shared.” Pollan also talks about the “slow food” movement. “Slow food is about food that is good, clean and fair. Theyâre concerned with social justice. Theyâre concerned with how the food is grown and how humane and chemical-free it is.” He adds, “Slow food is about recovering that space around the family and keeping the influence of the food manufacturers outside of the house. … The family meal is very important. Itâs the nursery of democracy.”
ACCEPTING THE INEVITABLE
In a collapsing universe, if all galaxies were moving radially toward us, it would be no wonder they would all crush together in a big crunch. But if the motion of galaxies were even slightly non radial, one might think that they would bypass one another and start flying apart afterward. The singularity would then be avoided, and contraction would be followed by expansion. Thus, one might hope to construct an oscillating model of the universe, without beginning, with alternating periods of expansion and contraction.
