You can find my almost hour-long interview about my new book with Joy Cardin at Wisconsin Public Radio here. I even talk to about half a dozen callers!
Blog
Beware the High Priests of Local Food
That's the title of the article I wrote with Henry Miller of the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, and just published in the Institute's journal, Defining Ideas.
Here is the last little bit:
The underlying principle is—or should be—this: Your local farmer is probably better at growing some things than ours is, and vice versa.
We favor eating delicious and nutritious foods, but if we are to live by the locavore’s mantra, and only consume what can be made locally, we had better resign ourselves to an expensive, narrow and boring diet—especially if we live in climates with harsh winters and short growing seasons.
No one should be opposed to patronizing nearby farmers’ markets for fresh products in season—or, for that matter, to individuals opting to adopt fad diets or home remedies. But it is abusive for governments to subsidize the locavore movement, in which the state has scant economic interest and for which legislators should have little appetite.
Interviews
This morning I'm scheduled to be on the Joy Cardin show on Wisconsin Public Radio and then a bit later on the Dennis Miller show. I've got 7 or 8 or more coming on Friday and next week, and I'll post those when the become available.
I had a nice time in NYC earlier in the week and despite disappointing cancellations from Fox News and MSNBC due to the Boston tragedy, I had several nice interviews with the WSJ, Newsmax, WNYC, John Batchelor, and Dennis Prager, and a few others.
WNYC on the Food Police
If you want to catch my bit with Brian Lehrer this morning on WNYC (New York Public Radio). You can listen here. As Lehrer kindly pointed out at the beginning - he was hostile to my point of view.
I thought I was able to hold my own - but judge for yourself.
Reasons to Rethink Organic
The Huffington Post put up a slide show with some excerpts from the chapter on organic foods in The Food Police. Here is the lead in:
Everywhere you turn, you hear "organic is healthier", "organic is greener", or "you absolutely MUST buy organic." It's not a question of whether we want to eat healthy, environmentally friendly food -- who doesn't want that? The question is whether organic lives up to the hype and whether it's worth it to pay a hefty premium. One of the problems with organic is that few shoppers know what the term really means, and they project onto the nebulous word all their hopes and dreams of good eating. Despite what many believe, organic doesn't mean food from small farms, produced without pesticides, or grown in the USA. There are a few advantages to eating organic but there are some drawbacks too. If you're rich enough and well-informed on the issues, then I say go for it. But, if you're not so sure whether organic lives up to all it is promised to be, here are a few reasons to re-think doubling your grocery bill.