Yesterday, I found the following “Action Alert” in my inbox:

MICHAEL POLLAN for U.S. SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE
WHAT: Get Pollan appointed United States Secretary of Agriculture
WHEN: Immediately
HOW: Through our U.S. Representatives and Senators

MY RESPONSE: WTF??!

Over the last couple of weeks, there have been lots of wistful twitterings from within the food movement about getting Michael Pollan (the watershed journalist and author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food) appointed as Barack Obama’s Secretary of Agriculture.  But this was the first time I’d seen an actual, serious  – or pseudo-serious – call to action around the idea.

My first thought, with all due respect, was, “What are my fellow foodie friends thinking?”  Yes, Pollan is one of the most significant thinkers and writers about sustainable eating today – even a food hero.  But he has said many times before, including during an interview with this blog, that he does not have any interest in being a spokesperson, let alone a policy maker, for the food movement.  “I’m trying very hard to preserve my role as a journalist, and I’m not advocating a specific set of policies,” he said.

And according to an article printed in the San Francisco Gate, Pollan is (gasp) maybe even moving on a little bit from the whole food business:  “‘My wife says it’s time for me to move on,’” the UC Berkeley journalism professor and reluctant leader of the real food movement told The Chronicle. “If you had to listen to our dinner table conversation for the last five years, as she and my son do, you might be up for a new topic.’”

So it would seem that the enthusiasm from the food movement in calling for Pollan as Ag Secretary probably has very little to do with what Pollan himself wants from his career path.  He is, after all, just a journalist.

But the very idea that a journalist might – even for a moment – be considered someone worthy of such an important political appointment, is incredibly significant.  Over the last few years, Michael Pollan has arguably shifted the conversation around food and sustainable agriculture in this country more than any policy maker.

That people throw around phrases like “rip up your lawn” (to grow vegetables, of course), or talk about the idea of the US Farm Bill as the “Food Bill” (because it impacts all eaters, not just farmers) is very much due to Pollan’s work.  Yesterday’s op-ed in the NY Times by Nicolas Kristof, urges the Obama administration to appoint a “Secretary of Food” instead of a Secretary of Agriculture,” for the same reason.  And who is quoted in the article as the chief expert on such things?  Yep, Pollan.  How could you not want this guy representing your dinner?

On second consideration, my guess – and hope – is that my fellow foodies are not serious in their suggestion that Michael Pollan be appointed to a position he has no interest in taking.  My guess is that they’re hoping to use the Action Alert campaign to raise awareness within the Senate and House that it is time to appoint a Secretary who has a “Pollan-slanted outlook” – one that cares about people and the planet as much as profit.  Someone who looks to the future and sees more organic family farmers and fewer cases of obesity-related diabetes, instead of more CAFOs and subsidies for high fructose corn syrup.

Here’s hoping they get what they want.