MICHAEL POLLAN AT BENAROYA HALL,
JANUARY 15, 2011

In Defense of Food: The Omnivore’s Solution

Real food--the kind of food your great-grandmother would recognize as food—is being undermined by science on one side and the food industry on the other, both of whom want us focus on nutrients, good and bad, rather than actual plants, animals and fungi. The rise of “nutritionism” has vastly complicated the lives of American eaters without doing anything for our health, except possibly to make it worse. Nutritionism arose to deal with a genuine problem--the fact that the modern American diet is responsible for an epidemic of chronic diseases, from obesity and type II diabetes to heart disease and many cancers--but it has obscured the real roots of that problem and stood in the way of a solution. That solution involves putting the focus back on foods and food chains, for it turns out our personal health cannot be divorced from the health of the soil, plants, and animals that make up the food chains in which we take part. In this talk, Pollan explores what the industrialization of food and agriculture has meant for our health and happiness as eaters, and looks at the growing national movement to renovate the food system.

PREMIUM TICKET SALES BENEFIT THE NEIGHBORHOOD FARMERS MARKET ALLIANCE:

Reception Tickets:   A private wine reception at Benaroya Hall with Michael Pollan before the talk, reserved seating near the stage, center orchestra. $100/ticket

Dinner Tickets:   Reserved seats for the talk in the first rows followed by an intimate evening with Michael Pollan and 4 of Seattle's award-winning culinary divas at the new Tamara Murphy restaurant, Terra Plata, opening later this year on Capitol Hill. Chef Murphy will be joined by Chefs Christine Keff (Flying Fish), Holly Smith (Cafe Juanita), and Maria Hines (Tilth) as they each prepare a wine-paired course using local, sustainable ingredients.  Taste what 4 James Beard Award Winners, 2 Iron Chef Champions, and 2 past “Best New Chefs” from Food & Wine come up with to tantalize your palate even in the depths of winter. $250/ticket

All Tickets available through Benaroya Hall.