First Annual New York Times Magazine Food Issue to Debut This Sunday

What is the most underappreciated part of protecting our national security? Some argue that it is maintaining a cheap and abundant supply of food--something that has become increasingly difficult in recent years as global food prices have risen almost 40%.

This Sunday, the New York Times Magazine will release its first annual Food edition, highlighted with a letter penned by popular sustainable agriculture advocate Michael Pollan to the next President of the United States. See the blurb below from Sustainable Daily News for a sneak peak into what Mr. Pollan believes will be one of the greatest challenges for a President in American history:

Update: Michael Pollan's letter to next president urges 'solar food economy'
New York Times Magazine debuts first annual Food Issue on Sunday
by Sustainable Food News
October 8, 2008

The first annual Food Issue from The New York Times Magazine debuts this Sunday and features an open letter from best-selling author and sustainable food champion Michael Pollan to the next president.

In a piece called “Farmer in Chief," Pollan argues that a new national food policy is as urgent as progress on health care, energy independence or climate change.

Pollan writes to the next president-elect to say that while issues surrounding food – dormant for the decades the industrial food industry has ruled – were not debated during the campaign, things are going to change.

"But with a suddenness that has taken us all by surprise, the era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close. What this means is that you, like so many other leaders through history, will find yourself confronting the fact — so easy to overlook these past few years — that the health of a nation’s food system is a critical issue of national security," he wrote in his 8,200-plus missive to the president-elect.

Federal subsidies have succeeded in keeping food prices low, but with huge costs in terms of fossil fuels and public health.

"Your challenge is to take control of this vast federal machinery and use it to drive a transition to a new solar-food economy, starting on the farm," Pollan wrote.

The first annual Food Issue of the New York Times Magazine also delves into the debate over just what “good food” means: good for us, good for the economy, or good for the planet?
Last year, a nearly 40 percent spike in world food prices were reflected in the true costs of cheap food – from obesity to malnutrition to environmental decline.

The Food Issue explores the scope of the problem and captures how, around the world, the main course is shifting.

Also in the premier issue is a piece called Encounter: A Green Revolution for Africa?
The Gates Foundation is making a big push to jump start agricultural development in Africa, where staving off famine and environmental degradation depends on increased yields for small farmers.

But not everyone, contributing writer David Rieff discovers, is on board.