January 15th is Saint Michael (Pollan) Day in Seattle

After far too long, Michael Pollan--author of six books, numerous articles and essays, and semi-official voice of the sustainable food movement--returns to the Pacific Northwest. On January 15th, Benaroya Hall will host Mr. Pollan's talk on "In Defense of Food: The Omnivore's Solution," a cute title for a serious topic that he has been flogging since 2002.

I've been a fan of Pollan's writing since A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder was released, back in 1997. (The title was reprinted in 2008 as A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams.)

Pollan's gentle and funny memoir tells the story of his family's relocation to a place in "the country" and his efforts to build himself a modest (ahem) writing studio out back. Written in the intimate, thoughtful narrative voice that has since become his trademark, Pollan has gone on to write four more books that have increasingly focused on agriculture and sustainability.

The startling success of 2006's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals turned Pollan into a household name beyond the food-obsessed coasts, due in part to both the text's accessibility and the publisher's excellent timing. Released just a year after the inauguration of World Environment Day in 2005, and the series of sustainability conferences that accompanied it, The Omnivore's Dilemma helped to propel the concept of "locavore" out of food-geek ghettos and into the mainstream--in 2007, the Oxford English Dictionary added locavore to its lexicon. (Even my rural Mississippi parents know what the word means, now.)

Disturbing in both concept and detail, The Omnivore's Dilemma explicated the complicated and deeply irrational food system which both sustains and sickens Americans. Pollan has stayed with the topic, publishing In Defense of Food in 2008 and Food Rules: An Eater's Manual in 2009. With each new book, Mr. Pollan has built his case for eating simply and thoughtfully, a campaign which dovetails neatly into closely allied movements such as Slow Food, organic standards, GMO regulation, and food justice.

Presented by NW Associated Arts, the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance, and The Stranger, Mr. Pollan's visit includes a dinner benefit for the NFMA--well-heeled foodies who can afford a $250 premium ticket will get to enjoy a dinner with the author, and local chefs Tamara Murphy, Christine Keff (Flying Fish), Holly Smith (Cafe Juanita), and Maria Hines (Tilth). Lesser lights can attend a reception with the author for $100. $25 no-frills tickets are also available for us plebes.