CC photo by Kris Krüg

Author and activist Michael Pollan is a passionate advocate for sustainable food. In his compelling talk at PopTech, he explores how our industrial food system is keeping us overly dependent on fossil fuels, destroying our environment, and making us sick. Breaking this cycle requires fundamentally changing our relationship to food - and eating more meals together.

He reveals that the food chain is not only complex but implicated in three of the most serious problems we face: the energy crisis, the health care crisis, and the climate crisis. Amazingly, 20% of the fossil fuel we burn in this country goes to feed ourselves, to produce this processed food. Five hundred billion dollars of health care costs go to preventable chronic diseases linked to our diet. And a third of greenhouse gases are produced by the food system. This is “not a pretty picture or a happy meal.”

At PopTech, Pollan spoke the gospel of sustainable food and you can watch as he gives new statistics on the current state of our industrial food system and why we need to share meals around the same table (special thanks to Duarte Design who worked closely with Michael to bring this presentation to life):

PopTech 2009: Michael Pollan from PopTech on Vimeo.

For more, there’s a Serious Eats post on recent Pollan news, web video extras from the recent PBSprogram on Pollan’s book, The Botany of Desire, and his upcoming speaking schedule.