From Fire to Fermentation: A Review of Michael Pollan’s Cooked

By Eric Garza, HowEricLives.com

The book, like others Pollan's written, benefits from his exceptional storytelling.

Food Nation: We are what we cook

By Rebecca Roberts, Sustainable Food Trust

Food is an intimate commodity. It is bought, sold, and controlled just like any other, but what makes it so personal is that it is wrapped up in deeply individual and cultural values.

From WIC to Wok: The Arcadia Mobile Market Seasonal Cookbook

By Sarah Zobel, Food Tank

JuJu Harris knows what it’s like to be a WIC mother struggling to feed a family on a limited income, and this spring she’s producing a cookbook inspired by others in the same situation.

Forget the Food Industry: Rediscover the Pleasure of Buying, Cooking, and Eating Real Food

By Arun Gupta, YES! magazine

As a graduate of New York’s French Culinary Institute and former chef, I’m obsessed with great food.

Michael Pollan on How Reclaiming Cooking Can Save Our Food System, Make Us Healthy & Grow Democracy

By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!

We spend the hour with Michael Pollan, one of the country’s leading writers and thinkers on food and food policy. Pollan has written several best-selling books about food, including "The Omnivore’s Dilemma," and "In Defense of Food: An Eater’s 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 you’re General Mills or Kellogg or one of these companies, or McDonald’s, 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. They’re concerned with social justice. They’re 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. It’s the nursery of democracy."