In the United States, the farm bill is the primary agricultural and food policy tool of the federal government. The comprehensive omnibus bill is passed every 5 years or so by the United States Congress and deals with both agriculture and all other affairs under the purview of the United States Department of Agriculture.

It usually amends some and suspends provisions of permanent law, reauthorizes, amends, or repeals provisions of preceding temporary agricultural acts, and puts forth new policy provisions for a limited time into the future. Beginning in 1973, farm bills have included titles on commodity programs, trade, rural development, farm credit, conservation, agricultural research, food and nutrition programs, marketing, etc.

Farm bills can be highly controversial and can impact international trade, environmental preservation, food safety, and the well-being of rural communities. The agricultural subsidy programs mandated by the farm bills are the subject of intense debate both within the U.S. and internationally.

The current farm bill, known as the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, replaces the last farm bill which expired in September 2007.

Non-farm bill agriculture legislation

Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916

Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933

Frazier–Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act of 1934

Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937

Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938

Agricultural Act of 1948

Agricultural Act of 1949

Agricultural Act of 1954

Agricultural Act of 1956

Farm Credit Act of 1971

Farm bills

According to the Congressional Research Service, nine bills between 1965 and 2002 are "generally agreed" to be farm bills; the 2008 farm bill is the tenth. #Food and Agricultural Act of 1965 #Agricultural Act of 1970 #Agricultural and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 #Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 #Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 #Food Security Act of 1985 #Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 #Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 #Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 #Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008

The 2002 Farm Bill has been criticised by Michael Pollan for making it economic to keep beef cattle in enclosed areas, feeding them cheap subsidised corn and antibiotics.

The latest 2008 Farm bill known as the Food Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 increased spending to $288Bn therefore causing controversy at the time by increasing the budget deficit. It increased subsidies for biofuels which the World Bank has names as an important contributor to the 2007–2008 world food price crisis.

External links

U.S. Farm Bill 2007 Ag Observatory (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy)

Farm Policy Facts

American Farmland Trust

Recipient database

USDA Bets the Farm on Animal ID Program

References

Category:United States federal agriculture legislation

Name	Beck
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Bek David Campbell
Born	July 08, 1970Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer
Genre	Alternative rock, anti-folk
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, harmonica, percussion, sitar, banjo, slide guitar, twelve-string guitar, glockenspiel, vocoder, kalimba, melodica, beatboxing
Years active	1988–present
Label	DGC, Interscope, Geffen, XL, Bong Load|
Associated acts	The Flaming Lips, Devendra Banhart, Charlotte Gainsbourg, The White Stripes, JSBX
Url	www.beck.com
Notable instruments	1962 Vintage Silvertone Danelectro

Beck Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck. With a pop art collage of musical styles, oblique and ironic lyrics, and postmodern arrangements incorporating samples, drum machines, live instrumentation and sound effects, Beck has been hailed by critics and the public throughout his musical career as being amongst the most creative and idiosyncratic musicians of 1990s and 2000s alternative rock.

The four-time platinum artist rose to underground popularity with his early works, which combined social criticism (as in "MTV Makes Me Want to Smoke Crack" and "Deep Fried Love") with musical and lyrical experimentation. He first earned wider public attention for his breakthrough single "Loser", a 1994 hit.

Two of Beck's most popular and acclaimed recordings were Odelay (1996) and Sea Change (2002). Odelay was awarded Album of the Year by the American magazine Rolling Stone and by UK publications NME and Mojo. Odelay also received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Sea Change was also awarded Album of the Year by Rolling Stone.

Early life

Beck was born in Los Angeles, California, to David Campbell, a Canadian musician, and Bibbe Hansen, a visual artist and former Warhol "star". His maternal grandfather was Al Hansen, a visual collage artist of the Fluxus school of art. Beck's paternal grandfather was a Presbyterian minister, while his matrilineal great-grandmother was Jewish; Beck's mother also has Norwegian and Swedish ancestry. When his parents separated, Beck stayed with his mother and brother in Los Angeles, where he was influenced by the city's diverse musical offerings—everything from hip hop to Latin music and his mother's art scene—all of which would later reappear in his recorded and published work.

Career

Early performing and first releases (1985–1992)

After dropping out of high school in the mid-1980s, Beck traveled to Europe and developed his musical talent as a street musician. In Germany, he spent time with his grandfather Al Hansen. The late 1980s found him in New York City, involved in the punk-influenced anti-folk music movement.

In 1988, Beck recorded a cassette entitled Banjo Story, which has since become available in bootleg form. He returned to Los Angeles at the turn of the decade. He lived in a shed and took a variety of low-paying, dead-end jobs (at one point working as a leaf blower operator), all the while continuing to develop his music. Beck also sought out (or sneaked onto) stages at venues all over Los Angeles, from punk clubs to coffee shops and playing on the streets. During this time, he met Chris Ballew (founder of The Presidents of the United States of America). They performed on the streets as a duo for a while. Some of his earliest recordings were achieved by working with Tom Grimley at Poop Alley Studios, a part of WIN Records.

In 1993 Beck released his first studio album, Golden Feelings, on Peter Hughes's Sonic Enemy label. It was initially released only on cassette (though later on CD in limited quantities). It has been estimated that only between 500 and 750 copies were made, making it a rare artifact. AllMusic.com would later describe the album as "an extremely interesting, entertaining, and humorous document that proves that from the start, Beck had his heart set on making experimentation his only gimmick".

"Loser", Mellow Gold, and independent albums (1993–1995)

1993 saw Bong Load Custom Records (owned by Tom Rothrock, Rob Schnapf, and Bradshaw Lambert) sign Beck to their fledgling label. That exposure and a subsequent live performance on the show July 23, 1993, led to a bidding war among labels to sign Beck. Eventually, he chose Geffen Records, who offered him terms that included an allowance for the release of independent albums while under contract. Of all the record labels to offer Beck a contract, Geffen offered him the least amount of money, but the greatest amount of creative freedom.

On February 22, 1994, Flipside Records released Stereopathetic Soulmanure. A sprawling 25-track album, it contained the fan favorites "Satan Gave Me a Taco", "Rowboat", and "Thunderpeel", as well nonsensical spoken tracks, noise (such as leafblowers), and live recordings. Johnny Cash would later record "Rowboat" and include it on his 1996 album Unchained. Cash later said that the song "sounded like something I might have written or might have done in the [1960s, when] I was kinda going through some weird times."

In March 1994, Geffen released Beck's major label debut, Mellow Gold. The album, created with Bong Load's Rothrock and Schnapf, as well as Carl Stephenson, turned Beck into a mainstream success. The record received the best ratings possible from Spin, Robert Christgau, Rolling Stone's Album Guide and AllMusic.

On June 27, Olympia, Washington–based independent label K Records released Beck's third album of 1994, One Foot in the Grave. The recording featured a number of notable musicians from the independent music scene, including Beat Happening's Calvin Johnson, Presidents of the United States of America's Chris Ballew, and Built to Spill members Scott Plouf and James Bertram.

Beck took his act on the road in 1994 with a worldwide tour, followed by a spot on the main stage of the 1995 Lollapalooza tour. Some critics at the time dismissed him as a one-hit wonder off the success of "Loser."

Odelay (1996–1997)

When the time came to record his follow-up to Mellow Gold, Beck enlisted Rothrock and Schnapf as producers and began recording an album of moody, low-key acoustic numbers to showcase his songwriting. Eventually, Beck shelved the album and pursued a more upbeat approach. Beck was introduced to the Dust Brothers, producers of the Beastie Boys' album Paul's Boutique, whose cut-and-paste, sample-heavy production suited Beck's vision of a more fun, accessible album. appeared on countless "Best of" lists (it topped the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for "Album of the Year"), and earned a number of industry awards, including two Grammys. Besides "Where It's At", three other singles were released from the album: "Devils Haircut", "Jack-Ass" and "The New Pollution".

Beginning in 1993, Beck contributed to Forest for the Trees, an experimental trip hop project by collaborator Carl Stephenson. The project released a self-titled record in 1997, followed by an EP in 1999. Beck added spoken word, harmonica, and various other instruments.

Mutations and Midnite Vultures (1998–2001)

Odelay was followed in 1998 by the release of Mutations. Though the album was originally slated for release by Bong Load Records, Geffen intervened and issued the record against Beck's wishes. The artist then sought to void his contracts with both record labels, and in turn the labels sued him for breach of contract. The litigation went on for years and it remains unclear to this day if it has ever been completely resolved. Mutations was produced by Beck and Nigel Godrich (frequent producer and collaborator with Radiohead) and is believed to have been intended as a stopgap measure before the proper next album. Recorded over two weeks, during which Beck recorded one song a day, the sessions produced fourteen songs. Mutations was a departure from the electronic density of Odelay and shows heavy folk and blues influences. Tracks on the album consisted of older songs, some dating back as early as 1994.

In 1999, Beck was awarded Best Alternative Music Performance for Mutations at the 42nd Grammy Awards.

In November, Geffen released the much-anticipated Midnite Vultures, which was supported by an extensive world tour. For Beck, it was a return to the high-energy performances that had been his trademark as far back as Lollapalooza. The live stage set included a red bed that descended from the ceiling for the song "Debra", and the touring band was complemented by a brass section. Midnite Vultures was nominated for Best Album at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. Beck released a number of B-sides and soundtrack-only songs as well, including "Deadweight" from the A Life Less Ordinary soundtrack, "Midnite Vultures" (curiously, not on the album of the same name), David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" from Moulin Rouge!, and a cover of The Korgis' "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime", which appeared in two memory-alteration-themed productions: the 2004 movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the last episode of the first season of Dollhouse. He is also credited on the French band Air’s 2001 album 10 000 Hz Legend for vocals on the songs "Don't Be Light" and "The Vagabond" (as well as harmonica on the latter). He sang a duet with Emmylou Harris on , performing "Sin City".

Sea Change (2002–2003)

In 2001, the Beck EP, which consists of B-sides from the Midnite Vultures era, was released. The EP was only available from Beck's website, and only 10,000 copies were printed.

In 2002, Beck released Sea Change, which, like Mutations, was produced by Nigel Godrich. It became Beck's first US Top 10 album, reaching #8. The album also received critical acclaim, earning five stars from Rolling Stone (the magazine's highest rating) and placing second in the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 2002. Sea Change was conceptualized around one unifying theme: the end of a relationship. The album featured string arrangements by Beck's father, David Campbell, and a sonically dense mix reminiscent of Mutations. Although some radio singles were released, no commercial singles were made available to the public. In August 2002, prior to the release of Sea Change, Beck embarked on a solo acoustic tour of small theaters and halls, during which he played several songs from the forthcoming album. The post-release Sea Change tour featured The Flaming Lips as Beck's opening and backing band. A song Beck co-wrote with William Orbit, "Feel Good Time", was recorded by pop singer Pink for inclusion on the soundtrack of the 2003 film . Beck also covered the Bruce Haack song titled "Funky Lil Song" for Dimension Mix, a tribute album dedicated to the music of electronic music pioneer Haack and his Dimension 5 Records, which his long time friend and collaborator Ross Harris produced to benefit Cure Autism Now.

Guero and The Information (2004–2007)

In 2004, Beck returned to the studio to work on his sixth major-label studio album. The record, Guero, was produced by the Dust Brothers and Tony Hoffer and features a collaboration with Jack White of The White Stripes; it marked a return to Odelay-era sound. as well as a "Critic's Choice" recognition from The New York Times. The album received a less enthusiastic response from Pitchfork Media, which ran a lukewarm and disappointed 6.6 out of 10 review; it was also given poor reviews by Q magazine, Dusted and Mojo. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts, pushing 162,000 copies in the first week and giving Beck his best week ever in terms of commercial sales and chart position. Since the release of Guero, the album's first single, "E-Pro" (which samples the drum track from the Beastie Boys hit "So What'cha Want"), has been well received by the mainstream rock community, receiving significant play time on mainstream radio. The second single, "Girl", received decent play time on mainstream radio and heavy airplay on college and independent radio. The third and final single of the album was "Hell Yes." The deluxe edition DVD version of the album featured more than 100 videos. Viewers could use the two additional video streams and four subpicture streams to create their own visual remixes for each track. The DVD package was so advanced that a small percentage of DVD players were unable to access certain tracks, due to the complicated nature of the technology used by video artists D-Fuse.

On February 1, 2005, Beck released an EP featuring four remixes of songs from Guero by independent artists who use sounds from various early 8-bit video game devices like the Game Boy. The EP, GameBoy Variations, featured "Ghettochip Malfunction" [Hell Yes] and "GameBoy/Homeboy" [Que' Onda Guero], both remixed by the band 8-Bit, and also had "Bad Cartridge" [E-Pro] and "Bit Rate Variation in B-Flat" [Girl], the last two being remixed by Paza {The X-Dump}. The EP cover art shows a long-haired person headbanging to his Game Boy, which is plugged into an amplifier like an electric guitar. This EP was featured in an issue of Nintendo Power. A music video for "Gameboy/Homeboy" was made by Wyld File. Also at this time, Beck released A Brief Overview, a promotional retrospective album featuring tracks from Guero, Sea Change, Mutations, Midnite Vultures and Odelay. This compilation also features "Ghettochip Malfunction" and two versions of "E-Pro," the lead single from Guero.

Beck performed at the music and arts festival Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee on June 17, 2006, with a set that featured many songs from Guero. In addition to his band, Beck was accompanied by a group of puppets, dressed as him and members of his band. Live video feed of the puppets' performance was broadcast on video screens to the audience. The puppet show was included throughout his 2006 world tour. On December 6, 2005, the remix album Guerolito was released, featuring the entire Guero album remixed by acclaimed musicians as well as cover art by Marcel Dzama.

Beck's seventh major-label studio album, The Information, which again reunited him with Nigel Godrich, was released on October 3, 2006. The release marked the first time in seven years that Beck released studio albums in consecutive years. The album reportedly took more than three years to make and has been described as "quasi hip-hop". It came with a sheet of stickers, which were to be used to "make your own album cover." Because of this, The Information was disqualified by the Official Chart Company from entering the UK Albums Chart, but in the US it gave Beck his third straight Top 10 studio album peak on the Billboard 200, reaching #7. The lead US single, "Nausea," officially went to radio on September 5, 2006. In the UK, the first single was "Cellphone's Dead".

A non-album single, "Timebomb", was released on iTunes on August 21, 2007, and the limited edition vinyl 12" was released on November 2, 2007, with an instrumental version of the song on the B-side. In December, 2007, it was announced that "Timebomb" had been nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.

Modern Guilt and possible new album (2008–present)

In February 2008, Beck stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that he had been working on a new album "with an unnamed producer" and that he expected it to be released by the end of the year. In early March 2008, the unnamed producer was revealed to be Danger Mouse. The new album Modern Guilt was released on Interscope in North America and on XL Records in the rest of the world. The single "Chemtrails" was made available on Beck's MySpace and website. In early June, Beck performed several songs from the new album at The Echo in Los Angeles. Modern Guilt was released in July 2008. A complete acoustic version of Modern Guilt, recorded in Japan, was featured as videos on Beck's website in 2009.

In an August 2010 interview with Pitchfork Media, Beck revealed that he wanted to release at least a song by the end of the summer.

On December 13, 2010, RCRD LBL premiered a Beck remix of Lykke Li's "Get Some."

Collaborations and contributions

On June 18, 2009, Beck announced that he was starting an experiment called Record Club, in which he and other musicians would record cover versions of entire albums in one day. The first album covered by Beck's Record Club was The Velvet Underground & Nico. Starting on June 18, the club began posting covers of songs from the album on Thursday evenings, each with its own video. On September 4, 2009, Beck announced the second Record Club album, Songs of Leonard Cohen. Contributors included MGMT, Devendra Banhart, Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother and Binki Shapiro of Little Joy. In the third Record Club venture, Wilco, Feist, Jamie Lidell and James Gadson joined Beck to cover Skip Spence's Oar. The first song, "Little Hands", was posted on Beck's website on November 12, 2009. The Record Club has since covered albums by INXS and Yanni

On June 19, 2009, Beck announced Planned Obsolescence, a weekly DJ set put together by Beck or guest DJs. Soon after, on July 7, Beck announced that his website would be featuring "extended informal conversations with musicians, artists, filmmakers, and other various persons" in a section called Irrelevant Topics. Then, on July 12, he added a section called Videotheque, which he said would contain "promotional videos from each album, as well as live clips, tv show appearances and other rarities".

Also in 2009, Beck collaborated with Charlotte Gainsbourg on her album IRM, which was released in January 2010. Beck wrote the music, co-wrote the lyrics, and produced and mixed the album. The lead single, "Heaven Can Wait", is a duet by Beck and Gainsbourg.

In late February 2010, it was announced that electronic artist Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow had collaborated with Beck on two songs, "Fresh Hex" and "Grape Aerosmith", on his upcoming album Maniac Meat. Tobacco revealed that in making the album, Beck sent the vocal parts to him, and that they had never actually met.

In March 2010, Beck revealed that he had produced songs for the new Jamie Lidell album, Compass.

In May and June 2010, Beck contributed songs to both soundtrack, with "Let's Get Lost" (a duet with Bat for Lashes), and True Blood (HBO Original Series Soundtrack, Vol. 2), with "Bad Blood". He also contributed songs to the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World soundtrack and movie, which was released in August 2010. Two of Beck's newly composed songs (which he specifically wrote for the film) appeared in the theatrical trailer of Pilgrim.

Musical style

Beck's musical style has been considered alternative and indie. He has been known to play many of the instruments in his music himself. He has also done some remixes for fellow artists, notably David Bowie and Björk. Beck has been known to synthesize several musical elements together in his music, including folk, Latin, Hip hop, funk, many types of rock and blues. He has also taken music from Los Angeles as a reference point in his songs. Sea Change was called "evocative music", with country rock roots. The songs on the album also had "a warm, enveloping sound" with the help of his acoustic guitar.

A Beck song called "Harry Partch," a tribute to the composer and his "Corporeal" music, employs Partch's 43-tone scale.

Art career

During 1998, Beck's art collaborations with his grandfather Al Hansen were featured in an exhibition entitled "Beck & Al Hansen: Playing With Matches", which showcased solo and collaborative collage, assemblage, drawing and poetry works. The show toured from the Santa Monica Museum of Art to galleries in New York City and Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada. A catalog of the show was published by Plug In Editions/Smart Art Press.

Personal life

From 1991 to 2000, Beck was in a relationship with designer Leigh Limon. Their breakup is said to have inspired his 2002 album, Sea Change. He wrote most of the songs for the album in one week after the breakup. Beck married actress Marissa Ribisi, the twin sister of actor Giovanni Ribisi, in April 2004, shortly before the birth of their son, Cosimo Henri. Ribisi gave birth to their daughter, Tuesday, in 2007.

Scientology

Beck has been involved in Scientology for most of his life; his wife is also a second-generation Scientologist. Marissa and her twin brother, Giovanni, were delivered by Beck's mother, Bibbe. Beck publicly acknowledged his affiliation with Scientology for the first time in an interview published in The New York Times Magazine on March 6, 2005. Further confirmation came in an interview with the Irish Sunday Tribune's i Magazine on June 11, 2005, where he was quoted as saying, "Yeah, I'm a Scientologist. My father has been a Scientologist for about 35 years, so I grew up in and around it." When questioned by the interviewer about Scientology's core beliefs, he replied:

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Appearances in media

The 1986 punk rock musical features a young Beck in a small nonspeaking role alongside legendary rocker Tomata du Plenty of The Screamers. Beck also appeared in Southlander (2001), an American independent film by Steve Hanft and Ross Harris.

Beck has performed on Saturday Night Live six times; these shows were hosted by Kevin Spacey, Bill Paxton, Christina Ricci, Jennifer Garner, Tom Brady and Hugh Laurie. During his 2006 performance in the Hugh Laurie episode, Beck was accompanied by the puppets that had been used on-stage during his world tour. He has made two cameo appearances as himself on Saturday Night Live: one in a sketch about medicinal marijuana, and one in a VH1 Behind the Music parody that featured "Fat Albert & the Junkyard Gang."

Beck performed a guest voice as himself in Matt Groening's animated show Futurama, in the episode "Bendin' in the Wind". He performed in episode 10 of the fourth season of The Larry Sanders Show, in which the producer character Artie (Rip Torn) referred to him as a "hillbilly from outer space". He also made a very brief voice appearance in 1998 cartoon feature film, The Rugrats Movie, and guest-starred as himself in a 1997 episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast entitled "Edelweiss."

Beck has also made appearances in the Adult Swim show Mission Hill. Accepting an award, he comes up on stage wearing the new "Spicy pants" trend. In consequence the main character begins throwing all of his "Beck" albums out his upper-story window.

In an episode of Celebrity Deathmatch, Beck was featured fighting Björk in a "battle to be the best monosyllabic musician of all time", which ended with both of them slain by Johann Sebastian Bach, who appeared via a time machine.

On January 22, 2010, Beck appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien's last show as a backup guitarist for a Will Ferrell–led rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" alongside ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, Ben Harper, and O'Brien himself on guitar.

Discography

Studio albums

Golden Feelings (1993)

A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight (1994)

Stereopathetic Soulmanure (1994)

Mellow Gold (1994)

One Foot in the Grave (1994)

Odelay (1996)

Mutations (1998)

Midnite Vultures (1999)

Sea Change (2002)

Guero (2005)

The Information (2006)

Modern Guilt (2008)

References

External links

Whiskeyclone.net, large, informative Beck site

Stewoo.net, the largest Beck fan forum

Beck at Rolling Stone

Category:1970 births Category:American alternative country singers Category:American alternative rock musicians Category:American buskers Category:American folk guitarists Category:American folk singers Category:American male singers Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American music video directors Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American musicians of Norwegian descent Category:American musicians of Swedish descent Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American Scientologists Category:Anti-folk musicians Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:K Records artists Category:Living people Category:Musical groups from Los Angeles, California Category:Musicians from California Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists

Name	Michael Pollan
Caption	Pollan speaking at Yale University
Birth date	February 06, 1955
Birth place	Long Island, New York, USA
Occupation	Author, Journalist, Professor
Spouse
Website	www.michaelpollan.com

Michael Pollan (born February 6, 1955) is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.

Biography

Early years

Pollan was born on Long Island, New York to author and financial consultant Stephen Pollan and columnist Corky Pollan. Pollan received a B.A. from Bennington College in 1977 and an M.A. in English from Columbia University in 1981.

Career

Books

In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan describes four basic ways that human societies have obtained food: the current industrial system, the big organic operation, the local self-sufficient farm, and the hunter-gatherer. Pollan follows each of these processes from a group of plants photosynthesizing calories through a series of intermediate stages and ultimately to a meal. Along the way, he suggests that there is a fundamental tension between the logic of nature and the logic of human industry, that the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world, and that industrial eating obscures crucially important ecological relationships and connections. On December 10, 2006, The New York Times named The Omnivore's Dilemma one of the five best nonfiction books of the year. On May 8, 2007, the James Beard Foundation named The Omnivore's Dilemma its 2007 winner for the best food writing. It was the book of focus for the University of Pennsylvania's Reading Project 2007, and the book of choice for Washington State University's Common Reading Program in 2009-10. An excerpt of the book was published in Mother Jones.

community.]]

Pollan's discussion of the industrial food chain is in large part a critique of modern agribusiness. According to the book, agribusiness has lost touch with the natural cycles of farming, wherein livestock and crops intertwine in mutually beneficial circles. Pollan's critique of modern agribusiness focuses on what he describes as the overuse of corn for purposes ranging from fattening cattle to massive production of corn oil, high-fructose corn syrup, and other corn derivatives. He describes what he sees as the inefficiencies and other drawbacks of factory farming and gives his assessment of organic food production and what it's like to hunt and gather food. He blames those who set the rules (i.e., politicians in Washington, D.C., bureaucrats at the United States Department of Agriculture, Wall Street capitalists, and agricultural conglomerates like Archer Daniels Midland) or what he calls a destructive and precarious agricultural system that has wrought havoc upon the diet, nutrition, and well-being of Americans. Pollan finds hope in Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm in Virginia, which he sees as a model of sustainability in commercial farming. Pollan appears in the documentary film King Corn (2007).

In The Botany of Desire, Pollan explores the concept of co-evolution, specifically of humankind's evolutionary relationship with four plants — apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes — from the dual perspectives of humans and the plants. He uses case examples that fit the archetype of four basic human desires, demonstrating how each of these botanical species are selectively grown, bred, and genetically engineered. The apple reflects the desire for sweetness, the tulip beauty, marijuana intoxication, and the potato control. Pollan then unravels the narrative of his own experience with each of the plants, which he then intertwines with a well-researched exploration into their social history. Each section presents a unique element of human domestication, or the "human bumblebee" as Pollan calls it. These range from the true story of Johnny Appleseed to Pollan's first-hand research with sophisticated marijuana hybrids in Amsterdam, to the alarming and paradigm-shifting possibilities of genetically engineered potatoes. in 2007]] Pollan's book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, released on January 1, 2008, explores the relationship with what he terms nutritionism and the Western diet, with a focus on late 20th century food advice given by the science community. Pollan holds that consumption of fat and dietary cholesterol do not lead to a higher rate of coronary disease, and that the reductive analysis of food into nutrient components is a flawed paradigm. He questions the view that the point of eating is to promote health, pointing out that this attitude is not universal and that cultures that perceive food as having purposes of pleasure, identity, and sociality may end up with better health. He explains this seeming paradox by vetting then validating the notion that nutritionism and, therefore, the whole Western framework through which we intellectualize the value of food is more a religious and faddish devotion to the mythology of simple solutions than a convincing and reliable conclusion of incontrovertible scientific research. Pollan spends the rest of his book explicating his first three phrases: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." He contends that most of what Americans now buy in supermarkets, fast food stores, and restaurants is not in fact food, and that a practical tip is to eat only those things that people of his grandmother's generation would have recognized as food.

In 2009, his most recent book, "" was published. This short work is a condensed version of his previous efforts, intended to provide a simple framework for healthy and sustainable diet. It is divided into three sections, further explicating the principles of "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." It includes rules such as "let others sample your food" and "the whiter the bread, the sooner you'll be dead."

Pollan has contributed to Greater Good, a social psychology magazine published by the Greater Good Science Center at University of California, Berkeley. His article "Edible Ethics" discusses the intersection of ethical eating and social psychology.

In his 1998 book A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder, Pollan methodically traced the design and construction of the out-building where he writes. The 2008 re-release of this book was re-titled A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams.

Other work

Pollan is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, a former executive editor for Harper's Magazine, and author of five books: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (2008) The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006), The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (2001), A Place of My Own (1997), and Second Nature A Gardener's Education (1991).

His recent work has dealt with the practices of the meat industry, and he has written a number of articles on trends in American agriculture. He has received the Reuters World Conservation Union Global Awards in environmental journalism, the James Beard Foundation Awards for best magazine series in 2003, and the Genesis Award from the American Humane Association. His articles have been anthologized in Best American Science Writing (2004), Best American Essays (1990 and 2003), The Animals: Practicing Complexity (2006) and the Norton Book of Nature Writing (1990).

Pollan co-starred in the documentary, Food, Inc. (2008), for which he was also a consultant. In 2010 Pollan was interviewed for the film "Queen of the Sun: What are the bees telling us?", a feature length documentary about honey bees and colony collapse disorder.

Personal life

He is married to landscape painter Judith Belzer; the couple met while both attended Bennington College. They have a son, Isaac. Pollan's sister is actress Tracy Pollan, the wife of Michael J. Fox.

Criticism

Writing in the American Enterprise Institute's magazine, Blake Hurst argues that Pollan offers a shallow assessment of factory farming that does not take cost into account. Daniel Engber criticized Pollan in Slate for arguing that food is too complex a subject to study scientifically and blaming reductionism for today's health ills, while at the same time using nutritional research to justify his own diet advice. He compares Pollan's "straight-forward" anti-scientific method based on only rhetoric to that used by health gurus of history who have peddled diet scams.

See also

Food studies

Bibliography

; Books

; Essays

; Interviews

References

External links

Official site

(video) Michael Pollan on the Politics of Food from UC Television (UCTV)

"The omnivore's next dilemma" at TED Talks

"In Defense of Food" at The Free Library of Philadelphia, January 10, 2008

Skewed View from the Berkeley Hills: Why Michael Pollan and Alice Waters should quit celebrating food-price hikes by Tom Philpott, Grist, April 4, 2009.

Food and Fossil Fuels by Melissa Moser, UNC News 21 Project, , June 25, 2009

Why are Farmers Afraid of Michael Pollan? by Jim Goodman, Counterpunch, Sept 25 2009

(video) Michael Pollan on: "Deep Agriculture," at The Long Now Foundation , May 5, 2009

">Michael Pollan on "Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual" - video report by Democracy Now!

Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Mansfield College, Oxford Category:American botanical writers Category:American food writers Category:American journalists Category:American magazine editors Category:American non-fiction environmental writers Category:American science writers Category:American Jews Category:Bennington College alumni Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Journalism teachers Category:Agrarian theorists Category:University of California, Berkeley faculty

Name	Max S. Baucus
Jr/sr	Senior Senator
State	Montana
Party	Democratic
Term start	December 15, 1978
Alongside	Jon Tester
Preceded	Paul G. Hatfield
State2	Montana
District2	1st
Term start2	January 3, 1975
Term end2	December 14, 1978
Preceded2	Richard Shoup
Succeeded2	John Patrick Williams
Order3	Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance
Term start3	January 4, 2007
Predecessor3	Chuck Grassley
Term start4	June 6, 2001
Term end4	January 3, 2003
Predecessor4	Chuck Grassley
Successor4	Chuck Grassley
Term start5	January 3
Term end5	January 20, 2001
Predecessor5	William V. Roth, Jr.
Successor5	Chuck Grassley
Order6	Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Term start6	January 1993
Term end6	January 3, 1995
Predecessor6	Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Successor6	John Chafee
Order7	Member of theMontana House of Representatives
Term start7	1973
Term end7	1974
Date of birth	December 11, 1941
Place of birth	Helena, Montana
Dead	alive
Residence	Helena, Montana
Occupation	Attorney
Spouse	Ann Geracimos (divorced 1982)Wanda Minge (1984-2009, divorced)
Children	Zeno Baucus
Alma mater	Stanford University (B.A., J.D.)
Religion	United Church of Christ
Website	Max Baucus, Senator From Montana

Max Sieben Baucus (born December 11, 1941) is the senior United States Senator from Montana and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1978, as of 2010 he is the longest-serving Senator from Montana, and the fifth longest-serving U.S. Senator currently in office.

As the current chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Baucus has played an influential role in the debate over health care reform in the United States. He is also chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation, and a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and is chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Before his election to the Senate, Baucus was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1978, representing Montana's (now defunct) 1st congressional district. He previously served in the Montana House of Representatives from 1973 to 1974.

Early life, education, and early career

Baucus was born to a wealthy ranching family in Helena, Montana, and graduated from Helena High School in 1959. He attended Carleton College in Minnesota for a year before transferring to Stanford University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 1964, and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. After graduating, he attended Stanford Law School and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1967.

After finishing law school, Baucus spent three years as a lawyer at the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. He moved back to Montana in 1971 to serve as the executive director of the state's Constitutional Convention, also opening a law office in Missoula, Montana.

In November 1973, Baucus was elected to the Montana House of Representatives as a state representative from Missoula. In November 1974 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, and was re-elected in 1976.

U.S. Senate tenure

Baucus was elected to the U.S. Senate on November 7, 1978 for the term beginning January 3, 1979, but was subsequently appointed to the seat by Montana's Democratic Governor Thomas Lee Judge on December 15, 1978 to fill the brief vacancy created by Senator Paul G. Hatfield's resignation. He has served consecutively ever since.

Connections to Jack Abramoff

In December 2005, following the public corruption probe of lobbyist Jack Abramoff—who was later convicted of fraud and corruption—Baucus returned $18,892 in contributions that his office found to be connected to Abramoff. Included in the returned donations was an estimated $1,892 that was never reported for Baucus's use of Abramoff's sky box at a professional sports stadium and concert venue in downtown Washington in 2001.

Recommendation of U.S. Attorney

In March 2009, Baucus recommended his live-in girlfriend and recent state director, Melodee Hanes, for the vacant position of U.S. Attorney for Montana. Baucus's romantic relationship with Hanes was discovered in December 2009, after Hanes had withdrawn her name from consideration and Michael Cotter, another of Baucus's recommendations, was selected.

Baucus withdrew the Hanes recommendation the day after he was told that a newspaper was "poised to publish a story about Hanes’s relationship with the senator and the fact that he had nominated her for the U.S. attorney job."

In December, Baucus told the Associated Press, "Mel would have been an excellent U.S. Attorney for Montana." Baucus added, "I, for one, did not want her relationship with me to disqualify her from applying for the position."

To bolster Baucus's statements, his office gave the AP a written statement that Hanes has "an extensive background as a prosecutor and extensive legal experience" along with a copy of her resume. The resume, however, listed her only federal court experience as handling personal injury and employment discrimination cases from 1982 to 1986 as a partner in a private Iowa law firm. Hanes later received prosecutor's training in 1994 at the FBI's National Law Institute in Quantico, Va., the resume states.

Hanes attended Drake University Law School.

Committees

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry

*Subcommittee on Domestic and Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant and Animal Health

*Subcommittee on Production, Income Protection and Price Support

*Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms

Committee on Finance (Chairman)

*As Chairman of the full committee, Sen. Baucus may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees of which he is not already a full member.

*Subcommittee on Taxation, IRS Oversight, and Long-term Growth

Committee on Environment and Public Works

*Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety

*Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health

*Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Chairman)

Joint Committee on Taxation (Chairman)

Political positions

(R-IA), left, speak with the media after a meeting at the White House with President Bill Clinton. Rep. E. Clay Shaw (R-FL) in background.]]

Baucus's campaign materials claim that he is a moderate Democratic member of the Senate, occasionally breaking with his party on the issues of taxes, the environment, and gun control. The web site That's My Congress gives him a 23 percent rating on progressive issues it tracks. NARAL Pro-Choice America's political action committee endorsed Baucus during his 2008 election campaign.

Civil rights

The ACLU rated Baucus at 60 percent in December 2002, indicating a mixed civil rights voting record.

Voting Rights for Washington, DC

Baucus has voted against giving voting representation to the District of Columbia.

Freedom of speech

He voted for an anti-flag burning constitutional amendment, of American flags, in 2006. Supporters suggest that a Flag Desecration Amendment would be respectful and is needed. Critics have suggested that this amendment does not fully support the Freedom of Speech, because it would have a chilling impact on freedom of speech ("the market place of ideas") in fascinating area of the U.S. Flag, create significant regulation, interfere with the cremation of irrelevant over-aged U.S. flags, disposal of clothing, wrappers and trash with the flag on it, clean up cost after any Independence Day celebration, election or political campaign events, and would greatly increase arbitrary police enforcement. The Boy Scouts of America teaches cremation (flag burning) as the correct disposal method for over-aged flags. The New York City areas has millions of people, and several Cogeneration power plants where trash is burned for electricity and to reduce land fill costs. Any flag in that waste stream, such as after July 4, would be flag burning. The U.S. Military policy requires destruction of all communications gear when U.S. forces are about to be captured, with the flag saved for last and if absolutely necessary. During "Black Hawk Down", the U.S. forces blew up (burned) a crashed U.S. helicopter, to deny it to the enemy. That helicopter's equipment was marked with U.S. flags. To comply with and avoid this proposed amendment, the U.S. Military has already switched the star field to the upper right corner, the back side flag, at considerable expense. The U.S. Military hopes to keep using the back side of the U.S. flag in combat, because stopping use of the flag altogether would violate key agreements with U.S. NATO allies and possibly other treaties, such as Geneva Conventions. This anti-flag burning amendment could make it unconstitutional or illegal, through simple law in War Powers fight, to order troops into harms-way where they and their shoulder U.S. flag patch might get burned or blown up.

He supported a bill to require online pornography sites to have a .XXX domain, together with Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) He supports the death penalty.

LGBT rights

In December 2006 the Human Rights Campaign rated Baucus at 67 percent.

Adoption abuse

In August 2008, Baucus' panel met to mark up bills on Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act, the Elder Justice Act and Safety, and the Abuse Prevention Act.

Economic issues

nominee Timothy Geithner, left]]

Baucus has a 74 percent pro-business voting record as rated by the United States Chamber of Commerce. He twice voted to make filing bankruptcy more difficult for debtors, once in July 2001 to restrict rules on personal bankruptcy, and a second time in March 2005 to include means-testing and restrictions for bankruptcy filers.

He has frequently visited places of employment within the state and has personally participated in activities that he calls "Work Days". He has also hosted economic development conferences.

In March 2005, Baucus voted against repealing tax subsidies that benefit companies that outsource U.S. jobs offshore. On January 4, 2007, he wrote an editorial in the Wall Street Journal calling on Democrats to renew President George W. Bush's fast-track authority for international trade deals. In response, the Montana State Senate passed a resolution, 44-6, "that the U.S. Congress be urged to create a replacement for the outdated fast track system".

Environmental issues

Baucus's environmental record is mixed. He supports Democratic leadership in voting against oil and gas subsidies and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling, as well as by voting in favor of national standards to reduce oil consumption and spur the use of hydrogen-powered cars. But he has voted against the corporate average fuel economy standards (CAFE) and on increasing federal funds for solar and wind power. He was a leader in the massive Montana Legacy Project conservation project.

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) gave Baucus a 100 percent rating, but only for the second session of the 110th Congress., but rated him at only 42 percent in December 2003.

Iraq War

Baucus voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, and has also joined the Democrats in the Senate in demanding the phased withdrawal of the Levin Amendment (no firm deadline). He voted with a majority of Democrats against Senator John Kerry's amendment stipulating a firm deadline for withdrawal of American combat personnel from Iraq.

On July 29, 2006, Baucus's nephew Marine Cpl. Phillip E. Baucus (September 24, 1977–July 29, 2006) was killed in combat in Al Anbar province. Phillip Baucus, a 28-year-old resident of Wolf Creek, Montana, had been a member of the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force. On January 10, 2007, the day of Bush's presidential address on his plan to increase troop levels in Iraq, Baucus spoke against the increases and called for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Israel

Baucus is one of the Senate's largest career recipients of pro-Israel Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions, receiving $550,589 since 1989.

Vietnam

On July 14, 2009, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial on Baucus's attitude over Vietnam’s "tra" and "basa" pangasius, saying there was no reason for America to launch a trade war with Vietnam over fish. "He's dead right about a trade issue now percolating in Washington," said the newspaper. The article, entitled "Max Baucus's Fish Sense - Protectionism often hurts the protectionist", outlined this controversial topic in Washington and underlined the possibility that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) could effectively ban imports of pangasius fish from Vietnam, which are similar to U.S.-produced catfish.

The ostensible reason for the move would be food safety and the USDA is considering whether Vietnamese fish should be subject to a stricter safety inspection regime. But the article said that there have been no reported cases of Vietnamese fish making American consumers sick and the proposed inspections would be onerous. It quoted Baucus as telling Congress Daily, "If we expect other countries to follow the rules and drop these restrictions, it is critical that we play by the rules and do not block imports for arbitrary or unscientific reasons."

Health care reform

Senate finance committee

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Baucus called the first Senate meeting of interested parties before the committee to discuss health care reform, including representatives from pharmaceutical groups, insurance companies, and HMOs and hospital management companies. The meeting was controversial because it did not include representatives from groups calling for single-payer health care.

Opposition to single payer health care

Advocate groups attended a Senate Finance Committee meeting in May 2009 to protest their exclusion as well as statements by Baucus that "single payer was not an option on the table." Baucus later had eight protesters removed by police who arrested them for disrupting the hearing. Many of the single-payer advocates claimed it was a "pay to play" event. A representative of the Business Roundtable, which includes 35 memberships of HMOs, health insurance and pharmaceutical companies, admitted that other countries, with lower health costs, and higher quality of care, such as those with single-payer systems, have a competitive advantage over the United States with its private system.

At the next meeting on health care reform of the Senate Finance Committee, Baucus had five more doctors and nurses removed and arrested.

Baucus admitted a few weeks later in June 2009 that it was a mistake to rule out a single payer plan because doing so alienated a large, vocal constituency and left President Barack Obama’s proposal of a public health plan to compete with private insurers as the most liberal position.

Conflict of interest charges

Baucus has been criticized for his ties to the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries, and has been one of the largest beneficiaries in the Senate of campaign contributions from these industries. A 2006 study by Public Citizen found that between 1999 and 2005 Baucus, along with former Senate majority leader Bill Frist, took in the most special-interest money of any senator.

Only three senators have more former staffers working as lobbyists on K Street, at least two dozen in Baucus's case. Castagnetti co-founded the lobbying firm of Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, which represents "America’s Health Insurance Plans Inc.", the national trade group of health insurance companies, the Medicare Cost Contractors Alliance, as well as Amgen, AstraZeneca PLC and Merck & Co. Another former chief of staff, Jeff Forbes, went on to open his own lobbying shop and to represent the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the Advanced Medical Technology Association, among other groups.

A statistical analysis of the impact of political contributions on individual senators' support for the public insurance option conducted by Nate Silver has suggested that Baucus was an unlikely supporter of the public option in the first place. Based on Baucus's political ideology and the per capita health care spending in Montana, Silver's model projects that there would be only a 30.6% probability of Baucus supporting a public insurance option even if he had received no relevant campaign contributions. Silver calculates that the impact on Baucus of the significant campaign contributions that he has received from the health care industry further reduces the probability of his supporting a public insurance option from 30.6% to 0.6%.

In response to the questions raised by the large amount of funding he took from the health care industry, Baucus declared a moratorium as of July 1, 2009 on taking more special interest money from health care political action committees. Baucus, however, declined to return as part of his moratorium any of the millions of dollars he has received from health care industry interests before July 1, 2009, or to rule out a resumption of taking the same or greater health care industry contributions in the future.

Tax policy

Baucus voted for the Bush tax cuts in 2001. He has usually voted against repealing portions of that bill and against repealing more recent tax cut bills that benefit upper income taxpayers. In 2008, he voted in favor of permanently repealing the estate tax.

2008

Baucus sought re-election in 2008 in Montana, a state that has seen political change starting in 2004 when it elected Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer and then Democratic Senator Jon Tester in 2006 by a slim margin. Montana was the only state in the U.S. to switch a chamber of its legislature to Republican control in 2006. The legislative chamber had a one-seat Democratic majority that became a one-seat Republican majority.

Baucus raised a record amount of money for his 2008 re-election bid, 91 percent of which came from individuals living outside of Montana. Similarly, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Baucus's 2008 campaign raised $11.6 million, only 13 percent of which came from Montana donors; the rest included millions from health care and other industries overseen by Finance and Baucus's other committees. The overwhelming ratio of special interest and out-of-state dollars to donations from Montana donors have raised questions:

So as Baucus and other lawmakers attempt to craft a bill that can smash through a virtual gridlock of interests, the awkward question lingers: To whom are they more attentive, their voting constituencies back home or the dollar constituencies who are at the Capitol every day? Until 1991, Baucus owned a house in Missoula, where he practiced law for three years before running for Congress in 1974. He didn't own a home again in Montana until February 2002, when he bought half of his mother's house from the Sieben Ranch Company, the ranch started by Baucus's great-grandfather in 1897. The ranch company, and Baucus's mother, still own the other half of the house. Baucus lives in Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Hill district. As of November 2007, the Missoulian newspaper reported he owned no other property in Montana.

In April 2009, The Associated Press reported that Baucus and his second wife, the former Wanda Minge, are divorcing after 25 years of marriage and have "parted ways amicably and with mutual respect.". Hanes then withdrew her nomination before the conflict of interest was discovered, because according to Baucus they wanted to be together in Washington, D.C. Both the Senator and Ms. Hanes had ended their marriages within the previous year. Senator Baucus claims he was separated from his wife before he began seeing Ms. Hanes.

Baucus has one son, Zeno, by his first wife, Ann Geracimos. Baucus and Geracimos divorced in 1982.

Baucus has completed a 50-mile ultramarathon and has crewed for female winner and fellow Montana native Nikki Kimball at the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run, which he hopes to run in the future.

References

External links

United States Senator Max Baucus official U.S. Senate site

Profile at SourceWatch

Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:United Church of Christ members Category:Members of the Montana House of Representatives Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Montana Category:Montana Democrats Category:Montana lawyers Category:People from Helena, Montana Category:Stanford University alumni Category:United States Senators from Montana Category:Ultramarathon runners Category:Stanford Law School alumni Category:Democratic Party United States Senators

Ken Cook is president and co-founder of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a public interest research and advocacy organization focused on protecting human health and the environment. Cook is the author of dozens of articles, opinion pieces and reports on environmental, public health and agricultural topics, including Mulch, a blog about food and agriculture policy. The sustainable food blog Chews Wise has referred to Cook as the "ag-wonk-meister"l.

Cook has been listed several times as one of Washington's Top Lobbyists by The Hill, an influential Washington, DC, political journal. He is a frequent source of environmental perspective and commentary in national print and broadcast media and has made frequent appearances on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, CBS's 60 Minutes, National Public Radio, and the evening newscasts of ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN among other programs. Cook is known for his decades of research and advocacy to reform agriculture policy to advance conservation and environmental protection. At the onset of debate over the 1995 Farm Bill, a front-page story in The Des Moines Register named Cook as one of the five most influential players in agricultural policy, alongside then-Senator Bob Dole, Leon Panetta (then the head of the Office of Management and Budget), then USDA Secretary Mike Espy, and former Farm Bureau head Dean Kleckner. A front-page profile in The Omaha World Herald in 1996 said, "Cook's fingerprints can be found on nearly two decades of U.S. farm law." In 2000, Progressive Farmer named Cook one of agriculture's most influential leaders in the 20th Century, alongside advocates like Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold.

Cook graduated from the University of Missouri - Columbia with an M.S. in Soil Science. He is married to environmental leader Deb Callahan.

References

Changemakers: Ken Cook

*

Category:American environmentalists Category:Sustainable agriculture Category:Living people

Name	Bill Nye
Image width	250px
Caption	Nye at Bridgewater State College in 2007
Birth date	November 27, 1955
Birth place	Washington, D.C.
Residence	Los Angeles
Nationality
Field	Mechanical engineering
Work institutions	BoeingCornell UniversityPlanetary Society
Alma mater	Cornell University (B.S.)
Known for	Bill Nye the Science Guy

William Sanford "Bill" Nye (born November 27, 1955), popularly known as "Bill Nye the Science Guy", is an American science educator, comedian, television host and mechanical engineer. He is best known as the host of the Disney children's science show Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1997) and for his many subsequent appearances in popular media as a science educator.

Early life and career

William Sanford Nye was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Jacqueline (née Jenkins; c. 1920–2000), a codebreaker during World War II, and Edwin Darby "Ned" Nye (died 1997), a sundial manufacturer. Nye is a fourth-generation Washington, D.C. resident on his father's side of family. After attending Lafayette Elementary and Alice Deal Junior High in the city, he was accepted to the private Sidwell Friends School on a partial scholarship, graduating in 1973. He studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University, where one of his professors was Carl Sagan, and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in 1977.

Nye began his career in Seattle at Boeing, where, among other things, he starred in training films and developed a hydraulic pressure resonance suppressor still used in the 747. Later he worked as a consultant in the aeronautics industry. Nye told the St. Petersburg Times in 1999 that he applied to be a NASA astronaut every few years but was always rejected.

The Science Guy

Nye began his professional entertainment career as an actor on a local sketch comedy television show in Seattle, Almost Live!; Nye attempted to correct the host of Almost Live! after the host pronounced "gigawatt" as "jigowatt." The character name came from the host's comment "Who do you think you are—Bill Nye the Science Guy?" and Nye was thereafter known as such on the program. His other main recurring role on Almost Live! was as Speedwalker, a speedwalking Seattle superhero.

Coincidentally, in 1992–93 he appeared in the live-action educational segments of with a nonspeaking role as an assistant to Dr. Emmett Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd, in which he would demonstrate science with Lloyd's voice-over. The segments' national popularity led to Nye's hosting the educational television program Bill Nye the Science Guy from 1993 to 1997. Each of the 100 episodes aimed to teach a specific topic in science to a preteen audience, yet it garnered a wide adult audience as well. The show was very popular as a school resource and is still used to this day. He has written several books as The Science Guy. In addition to hosting the show, he was also a writer and producer for the series, which was filmed entirely in Seattle.

When portraying "the Science Guy", Nye wears a light blue lab coat and a bow tie and takes on the persona of an excited, jocular science educator. This popular image of Nye has been parodied by numerous sources, including the webcomic xkcd and the satirical news organization The Onion. In response to the fake headline "Crack Nearly Killed Me," Nye took the joke in good humor and sent The Onion an email thanking them for "dealing compassionately with this matter."

He appeared in his Science Guy persona alongside Ellen DeGeneres and Alex Trebek in Ellen's Energy Adventure, an attraction that has played since 1996 at the Universe of Energy pavilion inside Epcot at Walt Disney World. He also has a voice-over at the DINOSAUR attraction in Disney's Animal Kingdom park, where he tells guests about the dinosaurs while they queue for the ride. In addition, he appears in the "Design Lab" of CyberSpace Mountain inside DisneyQuest at Walt Disney World, where he refers to himself as "Bill Nye the Coaster Guy."

Post-Science Guy career

Nye remained interested in science education through entertainment. He created a 13-episode PBS KCTS-TV series about science, called The Eyes of Nye, aimed at an older audience than his previous show had been. Airing in 2005, it often featured episodes based on politically relevant themes such as genetically modified food, global warming, and race.

He played a science teacher in Disney's 1998 TV movie The Principal Takes a Holiday; he made a hovercraft in order to demonstrate science in an unusual classroom manner. From 2000 to 2002, Nye was the technical expert in BattleBots. In 2004 and 2005, Nye hosted 100 Greatest Discoveries, an award-winning series produced by THINKFilm for The Science Channel and in high definition on the Discovery HD Theater. He was also host of an eight-part Discovery Channel series called Greatest Inventions with Bill Nye.

Nye has guest-starred in several episodes of the crime drama Numb3rs as an engineering faculty member. A lecture Nye gave several years ago on exciting children about math was an inspiration for creating the Numb3rs show.

Bill joined the American Optometric Association in a multimedia advertising campaign to educate parents on the importance of getting their children a comprehensive eye examination.

He was a regular in TV Land discussions. He has also made guest appearances on the VH1 reality show America's Most Smartest Model.

Nye appears in segments of The Climate Code on The Weather Channel, telling his personal ways of saving energy. He still makes regular appearances on the show, often asking quiz questions.

As of fall 2008, Nye also appears on the daytime game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as part of the show's reintroduced "Ask the Expert" lifeline. He currently hosts Stuff Happens, a show on the new Planet Green network.

In November 2008, Nye appeared in an acting role as himself in the fifth-season episode "Brain Storm" of Stargate Atlantis alongside fellow television personality and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Nye has appeared numerous times on the talk show Larry King Live, speaking about topics such as global warming and UFOs. He argued that global warming is an issue that should be addressed by governments of the world in part because it could be implicated in the record-setting 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. On UFOs he has been skeptical of extraterrestrial explanations for sightings such as those at Roswell and Malmstrom Air Force Base in 1967.

In 2009, portions of Bill Nye's shows were used as lyrics and portions of the second Symphony of Science science education music video by composer John Boswell.

Nye recorded a short YouTube video (as himself, not his TV persona) advocating clean energy climate change legislation on behalf of Al Gore's Repower America campaign in October 2009.

Nye (as his TV persona) also made a guest appearance on The Dr. Oz Show.

Life outside television

In the early 2000s, Nye assisted in the development of a small sundial that was included in the Mars Exploration Rover missions. Known as MarsDial, it included small colored panels to provide a basis for color calibration in addition to helping keep track of time. From 2005 to 2010 Nye was the vice president of The Planetary Society, an organization that advocates space science research and the exploration of other planets, particularly Mars.

He holds several United States patents, including one for ballet shoes and another for an educational magnifying glass created by filling a clear plastic bag with water.

From 2001–2006 Nye served as Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor at Cornell University.

When Pluto was reclassified from a planet to a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, Nye came out in favor of the change. Nye held a conference in 2006 discussing his opinion on the issue.

Since 2006, Nye has lived in Los Angeles in a house with modifications, though has owned a house on Mercer Island. As of July 2007, Nye and environmental activist Ed Begley, Jr. are engaging in a friendly competition "to see who could have the lowest carbon footprint," according to Begley. In a 2008 interview, Nye joked that he wants to "crush Ed Begley" in their environmental competition.

Personal life

Nye announced his engagement during an appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and was married briefly to his fiancée of five months, author Blair Tindall, on February 3, 2006. The ceremony was performed by Rick Warren at The Entertainment Gathering at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Yo-Yo Ma provided the music. Tindall left the relationship seven weeks later when the marriage license was declared invalid; their impromptu ceremony, which preceded the license purchase, violated California state law, said Tindall in a radio interview.

Nye enjoys baseball and occasionally does experiments involving the physics of the game. He is said to have been a fan of the Seattle Mariners, although recently he has voiced his preference for the Washington Nationals.

References

External links

Nye-Tindall wedding video

An interview/discussion with Nye as guest on the radio show Loveline

"Changing The World With Science Education" interview on Point of Inquiry.

Seattle Times interview (April 26, 2004)

Science Channel interview

Category:1955 births Category:American comedians Category:American mechanical engineers Category:American scientists Category:American skeptics Category:American television personalities Category:Boeing people Category:Cornell University alumni Category:Cornell University faculty Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Living people Category:People from Seattle, Washington Category:People from Washington, D.C.