SF Chronicle: Sustainable Food Movement gets thumb’s up from National Research Council
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Carolyn Lochhead provides a good example this week why it’s good to see beyond the press release to the real story. Her headline is “National council report backs sustainable food.” First, that’s good headline writing from the copy desk, as to spell out “National Research Council” formally and in caps would only set reader to wondering what it is. The generic national council suggests it’s important without interrupting the message. Second, the lead thoroughly localizes the story, the bulk of the text brings in Bay Area foodie heroes such as Michael Pollan, and Lochhead talks with enough people who helped write the report, and several outsiders besides, to turn this into a solid piece of informative journalism and a riposte of sorts to industrialized agriculture’s efforts to play down the practicality of touchie-feelie artisinal farming, farmer’s markets, local food, and organic mumbo jumbo as anything that can feed the world as prices most can afford.
What’s impressive about the story is that either somebody on the inside called Lochhead up and told here what the real story is, or she read the NRC reports her self. I say this because while, once one is tipped off, the press release does back up the kind of story she wrote, it does not spell it all out in plain English or with any references to trendy local food or sustainable food movement references.It took reporting and clear vision to see a gem of a story at hand.
This is also, incidentally, the second piece of news this week that at least partly vindicates the whole food, local food, sustainable food, organic food culture. The other is the spot of news on organic potatoes, found in today’s post (scroll down) on news arising this week from the journal Nature. I’m a skeptic, by the way, on arguments that organic or other small-local-farms or grass-fed anything is any more nutritious and particularly safer than what we get from such things as industrialized corn fields (whether in the form of corn-fed beef, or corn syrup, etc.). But the food tastes better, comes in more varieties, and its industry appears passionabe about maintaining obscure variations on standard supermarket produce and meat.
Why this doesn’t get more immediate coverage is not clear, but chances are the NRC report will have legs.
Grist for the Mill: National Academies / National Research Council Press Release, Full Report ;
- Charlie Petit
July 6th, 2010 at 6:56 am
The general public certainly needs to hear both sides of the story on all subjects. The more reliable information there is, that easier it is to make a good choice that will improve the quality of our lives. As food is one of major commodities, all the facts related to it should be available and examined with special care, so that we all become aware of what we eat and at what price.