Yesterday, April 22nd, was Earth Day, but I didn’t do anything especially earth-friendly. In the evening I attended a lecture at Worcester’s College of the Holy Cross by Michael Pollan, Professor of Journalism at UC-Berkeley. An author of well-received books and articles about plants, agriculture, food, and the environment, Professor Pollan was also an effective speaker.

A couple years ago, I read his Botany of Desire, which I found fascinating, but I haven’t yet read his two latest works, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, published in 2006, and In Defense of Food, published earlier this year. Therefore, I shall refrain from commenting on them. Don’t you hate it when people critique books they haven’t even read??! Suffice it to say that the former work is an indictment of our modern system of food production, while the latter focuses on issues of diet and health.

At Holy Cross, Professor Pollan spoke on the phenomenon he termed “nutritionism” and how it has corrupted our relationship with food. As you know from my previous posts, I love food, so I was more than happy to listen to him talk about eating. And fortunately for us in the audience, he was well-informed, engaged, gracious, and personable.

On my way home, I had to stop for gas (sigh). I paid $3.45/gallon for regular, the most I’ve ever paid in my life. Maybe this is an appropriate Earth Day commentary: listed below are the prices for Regular at various gas stations on my way from and to Amherst and Worcester.

• Citgo – $3.46
• Exxon – $3.43
• Getty -$3.49
• Gulf – $3.49
• Hess – $3.49
• Mobil – $3.46
• Shell – $3.47
• Sunoco – $3.45