How big is the college food movement in America? Huge. And in a conversation between Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser at the University of Southern California on Wednesday, Feb. 9, there was every indication the movement is gaining strength. A standing room only crowd was rapt for two hours, after which hundreds of coeds lined up to wait more than an hour to have these rock star authors sign copies of their respective books, "In Defense of Food" and "Fast Food Nation."
         While no one threw their underwear on stage, the scent of hero worship filled USC's Bovard Auditorium. When the two men called on the crowd to "vote with their dollars" when choosing what to eat, there was an audible murmur that came pretty close to being an "Amen."

         "Back in 1997 when I wrote 'Fast Food Nation,' I thought the truth was being hidden from us and the truth was appalling," Schlosser told the students. Pollan followed up, saying, "Nothing's changed in the industrial food system, except now we have two food systems, one that is accessible to everyone and one that is not. And that's just as disturbing as the old system."
         Still, both authors are upbeat about Michelle Obama's deal with Wal-Mart that is intended to bridge this gap and make healthy food available to less advantaged families. "The big challenge," says Pollan, is to monitor the commitments Wal-Mart has made to the First Lady." Wal-Mart is the biggest grocer in America with 40% of the market and the chain serves the group that is suffering the most from obesity and diabetes. If they make good on their healthy food pledge, as well as their initiative to re-regionalize their food, to work with smaller farmers, to use less fossil fuels, to invest in local food suppliers, "They have so much power. They can change the whole landscape."
         "Some of the Walton family members are real believers," says Schlosser. "The real problem is that no one company should be this powerful. This sort of unchecked corporate power is antithetic to a democracy. We need to see how it all plays out."
         Other major points:
         -- First Lady Michelle Obama made news recently when she said people should eat less food. "It was a monumental step forward in a nation where the government policy has always been to encourage consumption," said Pollan. But even then, she continued to encourage people to drink more water and backed away from a more meaningful admonition to drink less soda. She urged parents to buy nutritious food but failed to decry potato chips.
         -- The school lunch program is a disposal system for commodities that could not be sold elsewhere. While Michelle Obama has been able to get junk food out of schools, the "real" food is often more disgusting, said Schlosser.
         -- The recent federal approval of genetically modified alfalfa mystifies both two men who called it a direct threat to the organic food industry. To be certified, you have to prove that you feed your animals GMO-free grass. It will now be impossible to prove that with GMO alfalfa out there. This is a perennial plant with seeds that blow with the wind. With 93% of alfalfa grown without chemicals, GMOs bring nothing to the party. It happened because the White House killed an effort by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that would have protected the organic food industry. Those protections were an enormous threat to Monsanto, the largest player in the GMO game.  "It was not a proud moment for Obama," said Pollan. The Center for Food Safety is carrying the torch for the organic industry in the courts.
         -- The next farm bill is an opportunity for change. The farm bill needs to be a food bill. Urban legislators give away their votes on the farm bill because they think it isn't their issue. So subsidies are not scrutinized. The products our government subsidizes are not food, as we know it. It is livestock feed and the products that make high fructose corn syrup. A public health standard must be applied to the farm bill. If we put that lens to this legislation it would be completely changed.
         Knowledge is power, Schlosser told the gathering. "Your food dollars are votes. Use them."