"The correlation between poverty and obesity can be traced to agricultural policies and subsidies"
About this Quote
Pollan’s line lands like a quiet indictment: if poverty and obesity travel together, it’s not because poor people are lazy or ignorant, but because the system is engineered that way. The word “traced” matters. It borrows the language of forensics, inviting the reader to follow a paper trail - not into kitchens or individual willpower, but into Washington, agribusiness boardrooms, and the hidden architecture of the grocery aisle.
The specific intent is to reframe a public-health “paradox” as a policy outcome. By pointing to “agricultural policies and subsidies,” Pollan yanks the conversation out of moral panic about bodies and into the unglamorous mechanics of price signals: what gets grown, what gets processed, what gets marketed, what ends up being cheapest per calorie. Subtext: obesity is not just a medical issue; it’s an economic one, and economics is political.
Contextually, this fits Pollan’s broader project of demystifying the modern food system - especially the way commodity crops (corn, soy) become the raw material for ultra-processed foods that can undercut fresh produce on cost, shelf life, and convenience. That’s where poverty enters: when budgets are tight and time is scarce, the “rational” choice becomes the subsidized one. The line also critiques a common bipartisan dodge: treating obesity as a personal failing allows lawmakers to ignore the farm bill, corporate lobbying, and the fact that “choice” is often just what’s affordable.
It works because it redirects blame without absolving anyone; it suggests a lever for change, and it makes the reader see lunch as legislation.
The specific intent is to reframe a public-health “paradox” as a policy outcome. By pointing to “agricultural policies and subsidies,” Pollan yanks the conversation out of moral panic about bodies and into the unglamorous mechanics of price signals: what gets grown, what gets processed, what gets marketed, what ends up being cheapest per calorie. Subtext: obesity is not just a medical issue; it’s an economic one, and economics is political.
Contextually, this fits Pollan’s broader project of demystifying the modern food system - especially the way commodity crops (corn, soy) become the raw material for ultra-processed foods that can undercut fresh produce on cost, shelf life, and convenience. That’s where poverty enters: when budgets are tight and time is scarce, the “rational” choice becomes the subsidized one. The line also critiques a common bipartisan dodge: treating obesity as a personal failing allows lawmakers to ignore the farm bill, corporate lobbying, and the fact that “choice” is often just what’s affordable.
It works because it redirects blame without absolving anyone; it suggests a lever for change, and it makes the reader see lunch as legislation.
Quote Details
| Topic | Food |
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