Joint Finance Committee Meeting, Anniversary of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” Modern Family Leave

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Heard On Central Time

The state’s Joint Finance Committee is meeting this week to decide on issues like voter ID education and tax credits for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. A reporter gives us the latest from the meeting, and explains what we can expect to see in the coming days. We also talk to a guest about important factors a family leave policy should have, and talk to the author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which turns 10 this year.

Featured in this Show

  • Understanding Food In Decade After 'The Omnivore's Dilemma'

    It’s been 10 years since Michael Pollan’s seminal work, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” was published and became a national best-seller.

    According to Pollan, the book started with a simple question: “Where does my food come from?” He said he originally realized he didn’t know the answer.

    “The food looked the same in the supermarket. A steak looked like a steak and an ear of corn looked like an ear of corn,” he said. “But the way we were producing those — I was getting clues — had been revolutionized.”

    That revolution was the industrialization and automating of food, he said. From farms planting two major crops, corn and soy, to moving animals from open pastures to feed lots.

    But over the last decade, there has been an increased desire for organic and sustainable food, a growing interest in farming and a growing awareness of the chemicals used on crops, he said.

    Since he first began researching the book, Pollan said that it has changed the way that he approaches food.

    “I looked at the horrible and the wonderful along the way,” Pollan said.

    He broke down the food system into four different chains: the “organic,” “local,” “industrial” and “little” food chain. Pollan then followed each of the food chains from the product to the source to learn how the process had changed.

    “For me, it was incredibly eye-opening,” he said. “I had many epiphanies and it ultimately changed the way I eat in dramatic ways.”

    One thing that he said he would like to see put into place in the coming years is a national food policy. Pollan points to agricultural policies that he said actually work against the public health by promoting large, monoculture crops.

    “Food is so important, both to the public health and to the health of the environment, that you think we would,” Pollan said. “We have agricultural policies, but those are kind of special interest policies designed to prop up farmers.”

    These policies encourage government subsidies on industrial agriculture, particularly corn and soybean production, Pollan said.

    Corn, which is frequently processed into high-fructose corn syrup, has been tied to the increased number of cases of type-2 diabetes, which in turn has become a public health crisis throughout the U.S., he said.

    However, the state of food isn’t entirely dire, according to Pollan. He said if his book could take credit for one thing, it would be raising the status of the American farmer. He points to the fact that one of the highest sought-after internships in the country is actually volunteering on organic farms, with more young people opting for a career in farming.

  • Joint Finance Committee Approves Funding For Voter ID Education Campaigns

    On Monday, the state legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted to approve a funding request for voter ID education campaigns. We discuss what kind of education campaigns and who will oversee them with a state political reporter.

  • The Decade Since The Omnivore's Dilemma

    It’s been a decade since Michael Pollan published The Omnivore’s Dilemma. We talk with him about how our relationship to food has changed, and where he finds signs of hope.

  • A Modern Family Leave Policy In America

    Only about 12 percent of private sector employees in the U.S. are offered paid family leave through their employer. A stark contrast from about 180 other nations that require paid family leave. We talk to a guest who co-wrote a piece on the three main things that modern family leave policy in America needs.

Episode Credits

  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Judith Siers-Poisson Producer
  • Amanda Magnus Producer
  • Haleema Shah Producer
  • Michael Pollan Guest
  • Jessie Opoien Guest
  • Brigid Schulte Guest

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