Last night Whole Food's CEO John Mackey and author Michael Pollan met in Berkeley, CA to discuss "The Past, Present, and Future of Food." After some very public arguments last fall between the two, this event looked like it could be a good debate. But East Bay Express reports:
"Pollan did what egghead intellectuals do: He began a dialogue. Last night’s public sit-down, hyped as 'The Past, Present, and Future of Food,' promised to be the title match. Certainly the public thought so. After hundreds of tickets for the J-School-sponsored event sold out within hours, it moved from Wheeler Hall to Zellerbach. But it might as well have moved to the Whole Foods’ corporate boardroom and been produced as a Webinar. In the end, Pollan failed to raise many substantive questions. And in the absence of a muscular challenge, Mackey used the evening to promote his company’s upcoming initiatives."
I haven't seen the webcast yet (webcast to be posted here at some point) but now I'm wondering if I want to bother. For more reactions to the talk, Google blog search for 'John Mackey' is your friend.