Award-winning author, food advocate coming to WMU to talk about food

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Award-winning, best-selling author and food advocate Michael Pollan will bring his message of healthy food systems and healthy eating to the Western Michigan University campus in November.

Pollan, who for 25 years has been writing about food and agriculture in books and as a longtime contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, in Miller Auditorium. His presentation, titled "A Community Conversation about Food," is part of the University Center for the Humanities' Healing Arts Series as well as the 2014 Kalamazoo Community Foundation's Community Meeting.

Pollan's talk is free and open to the public. Parking is free in Parking Structure No. 2 adjacent to Miller Auditorium. Tickets are not required; however, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation asks that attendees register by visiting www.kalfound.org.

Michael Pollan

Pollan is the author of "Second Nature: A Gardener's Education," "A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams," and "The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World," which received the Borders Original Voices Award for the best nonfiction work of 2001 and was recognized as a best book of the year by the American Booksellers Association and Amazon.

He also wrote the national bestsellers "The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat," and "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto." "The Omnivore's Dilemma" was named one of the 10 best books of 2006 by both The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Pollan also is the James L. Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley. Other awards for his writing include the Reuters/World Conservation Union Global Award in Environmental Journalism, the James Beard Award and the Genesis Award from the American Humane Association. Pollan has been recognized with a Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Biology Teachers and was named one of Newsweek's Top 10 Thought Leaders.

For more information, visit wmich.edu/humanities or www.kalfound.org.

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