Wisconsin Ag Connection - Campus-Recommended Book About Farming Sparks Debate at UW-Madison

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Campus-Recommended Book About Farming Sparks Debate at UW-Madison
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 09/23/2009

The chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has chosen a book that many consider anti-agricultural for the school's reading and discussion program; and that's prompting farm groups and ag industry leaders to become more vocal about their own positions over farm production practices.

This month, Chancellor Biddy Martin recommended Michael Pollan's book, 'In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto' for the Go Big Read project. Pollan is a frequent critic of the U.S. food system and diet. He is also scheduled to give a free public lecture on Thursday at the Kohl Center in Madison, and will also be part of an informal question-and-answer session on Friday at the Chazen Museum of Art.

As a result, viewpoints from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture's Board, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, and Organic Valley Co-op on food, farming and the work of Michael Pollan will be presented during a lecture on October 1 at the campus. Their discussion will be called 'Wisconsin Farmers: What to Eat.' That forum will be the first in a series entitled 'What to Eat: A Seven-Discourse Meal,' presented by the UW-Madison agroecology program.

The Go Bed Read program was created to engage students, faculty, staff and community members in a shared reading experience, then discuss the issue in settings such as these. Chancellor Martin also told state agriculture groups in a recent meeting that Pollan will be asked questions related to the pseudo science issues that were raised in his book.