Washington State University is drawing the wrath of the sustainable-food community after word leaked out that pressures from agribusiness had caused the school to pull Michael Pollan's best-selling book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" off the reading list for college freshmen.
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The story was first reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education. University officials said the decision had been made because of budgetary concerns.
But according to a story in the Spokesman-Review, "pressure apparently was brought to bear by a member of the board of regents, Harold Cochran, who disapproved of the author’s characterization of agribusiness." Cochran, the piece reports, owns a 5,500-acre farm near Walla Walla, Wash., and is a member of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers.
While we’re on the topic, if you’ve never seen "The Future Of Food,” go get yourself a copy.
