"michaelpollan" news and stories

This October 9, two major forces in the food world will be honored in Iceland with a $50,000 award from Yoko Ono -- Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food, and Food Rules, among other books, and Barbara Kowalcyk, who became a major campaigner for food safety after her son died following an E. coli infection in 2001 (you may remember her from Food, Inc.).

The Lennon Ono Grant for Peace, awarded biannually, was created in 2002 to keep Lennon's peaceful spirit and "dedication to human rights" alive, Telegraph UK reports.

Other recipients of the grant are Josh Fox, writer-director of Gasland (a film on natural gas drilling), and Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, who, more recently, has written about her time in Gaza.

The ceremony in Iceland will also commemorate what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday. Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band is set to rock out that evening and there will be a lighting of the Imagine Peace Tower Memorial.

Vibrant Swiss chard from the Torrance farmers' market. Photo: clayirving, Flickr.

In the "treacherous food landscape" of today's supermarkets, noted New York Times contributor and author Michael Pollan has culled a collection of "Rules to Eat By" to help readers navigate "through the minefields of the modern-food marketplace or restaurant menu."

He requested suggestions from New York Times readers in March as research for an upcoming book and received more than 2,500 in just a few days. With food policies ranging from the innate ("Don't eat egg salad from a vending machine"), to quirky ("Don't yuck someone's yum"), to moral ("Don't eat anything you aren't willing to kill yourself"), Pollan's 20 favorites provide a helpful guide to eating right.

As food takes a longer and longer path -- and transformation -- from its origins, and the food industry gains increasing influence over what is deemed "nutritious" according to federal standards, eating right has become more and more abstruse. With the constant rise of misguided or unsound food principles -- Paula Deen categorizing her strawberry cake as "fruit" on "The View," KFC's Double Down sandwich swapping its bun for two servings of fried chicken, a markedly "Supersized" culture -- Pollan stresses the importance of the elementary practice of trusting culture, and following our leaders -- mothers and fathers and friends -- rather than increasingly convoluted federal nutrition guidelines when making appropriate food choices.

Weary of the "era of dazzling food science, supersize portions and widespread dietary confusion," Pollan published "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" and "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals," took the James Beard Award for best food writing and is currently the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley.

Bottles of vinegar. Photo: junmon603, Flickr.

• Sometimes seasoning to taste shouldn't be a spray of salt, but rather a splash of vinegar.
• Critics say that California chardonnay is becoming the bland "indecision beige of the wine world."
• Entertaining at home doesn't need to be an expensive affair or scattered potluck. Some hosts are having fun with team cooking.
• Three pros share party-hosting tips like pasta experimentation and budget cuts of meat.
• Michael Pollan is becoming a phenomenon?
• The Tribune's Cookie Contest will land one lucky baker $200 at Williams-Sonoma.
• Chicago food and drink events.
• Recipes: Mini Currant Scones, Orzo and Brown Rice Pilaf, Cherry Tomato-Walnut Pizza.

Green tomatoes. Photo: pink_fish13, Flickr.

• Green tomatoes can become a delicious late-summer soup.
• A look at the food and fine dining of Portland, Maine, as it -- brace yourself -- gears up for frost and winter.
• At the living museum Strawbery Banke in New Hampshire, Rosh Hashana is celebrated 1919-style.
• French Languedoc wines have improved greatly over the last 25 years.
• Michael Pollan writes an op-ed piece about eating and U.S. health care.
• Food editor and developer of products like Cran-Apple juice Sylvia Schur passes away at the age of 92.
• Recipe Redux goes back in time and whips up a Huguenot Torte from 1965.
• The foods that wowed when noted chefs David Kinch, Alexandre Gauthier, Pascal Barbot and Michel Bras got cookin' on Sept. 14.
• The Minimalist makes Thai-style crab cakes.
• The classic tourist spot Tavern on the Green files for bankruptcy -- a look into why it fell.
• Restaurants: Gus & Gabriel Gastropub "fails to achieve even its low aims," Stumptown Coffee Roasters whips up exceptional espresso and Queens' M & T Restaurant offers elegant simplicity and great eats.
• Food Stuff finds purr-worthy knives, a new food processor and apple cake.
• New York's openings and closings and dining calendar.

LU Crème Roulee Tin. Image: Amazon.

A few of the best stories spied elsewhere on the Web this week:

Slow Food advocates organize potluck "eat-ins" to boost school lunch funding.

T.G.I. Friday's to give first 500,000 Facebook fans free food.

Club Med launches food blogger camp program, mixing beach bathing with blogger seminars led by prominent writers.

French snacks come to Mercedes Benz Fashion Week with a LU Café, exhibiting designer Erin Fetherston's limited-edition Crème Roulee Rolled Wafer tin at the Bryant Park Tents.

Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food," calls for food industry reform in the wake of Obama's health care reform speech.

Unsuspecting teachers got high off "church bake sale" brownies. Symptoms they chalked up to food poisoning were actually the result of pot brownies at a sidewalk sale that was, evidently, not benefiting a church.

Julia Child's illustrator isn't a foodie and doesn't have much interest in seeing the movie "Julie & Julia."