Michael Pollan Was On Oprah

Last week, Michael Pollan was on the Oprah Show. (Click here to watch.)

What does this mean? Has "real food" hit the mainstream? Perhaps. At the very least, Michael Pollan's particular flavor of common-sense, easy-to-understand real food philosophy has reached a new level of mainstream audience. And he has continued his ascendancy in fame and fortune. Which is fantastic, as far as I'm concerned.

I've been waiting for the breakthrough event in the realm of real food—the Inconvenient Truth of the broken industrial food system, the system that hurts us every day, whose tentacles are growing to encircle even "organic" foods and small-time seed companies. I've been assuming this breakthrough would come in the form of a movie, for a few reasons: that's how Inconvenient Truth came; that's how many of the most popular food exposés have come in recent years; and people's attention spans these days are better matched to movies than to books.

But maybe the breakthrough will start with an interview on Oprah. People's attention spans are even better matched to talk shows.

Really, I don't care how it comes, or what it takes. As long as it comes. And it will come, once the real food movement reaches a critical mass.

The battle lines have been drawn, and a growing number of us are prepared to fight for real food, by whatever means necessary.