Quotes from Edible Education 101

I've had seven lectures of Edible Education 101 already, with a diverse array of speakers on topics ranging from the agricultural movement in Italy, to food equity among races, to nutrition and the evils of sugar. I'm learning so much and it's making every bite I take, and every decision about what bite I take, much more conscious. I've stopped drinking soda all together and I bring my own lunch to campus most of the time now... and more changes are coming I'm sure. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the various speakers Michael Pollan has brought in for us:



"Can you put your belief system into your body?" - Peter Sellers, describing the common gap that exists between ideals and principles and how we actually physically nourish ourselves .

"Everyone in the food system has a different truth" - Alegria de la Cruz, on the complexity and multi-disciplinary nature of the problems that we face. Alegria spoke from the perspective of farmworkers, who come from a very different vantage point than the environmental and sustainability advocates in the food movement.

"Obesity is a public health issue" - Robert Lustig, urging the audience to think about obesity not as a personal health and lifestyle problem, but rather an epidemic that is costing the nation real dollars

"Walmart has a passion and vision to help people save money so they can live better" - Jack Sinclair, Executive Vice President of Grocery, Walmart Coporation. Now this was an interesting one. Jack came to the class well prepared to be pushed and poked and prodded with poignant questions from the student body, knowing that the class would be recorded and posted on YouTube. He was constantly emphasizing how proud Walmart is, and how they have real vision. He was able to either answer or deflect each question with a specific example of how Walmart is doing good things for the world... never acknowledging that corporations as big as Walmart have inherently unsustainable aspects.

"Chocolate milk is just soda in drag" - Ann Cooper (The Renegade Lunch Lady), making the case that the dairy industry has made it seem like American children need to be drinking way more milk, when in reality, they can be getting calcium and nutrients from regular milk or vegetables.

"Why are agro-chemical companies [Monsanto] deciding what we eat? - Ann Cooper