Omnivore’s Dilemma Author and Monsanto CEO Chat with Google in the Defense of Food

Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant and author Michael Pollan agree to disagree over the world’s food crisis…kinda.

In an unlikely pairing, both Michael Pollan and Monsanto’s CEO Hugh Grant sat down with Google.org and YouTube for a discussion on the world’s food crisis. The two had met and became friends upon visiting the Doomsday Seed Vault in Norway.

The half hour chat – Creating a World That Can Feed Itself – was all together…flaccid.

Grant’s primary focus to solving the world’s food issues was about doubling yields within the next 20 years. He boasted how a larger yield, requiring less water and less fertilizer, was the right solution. But he says the science isn’t the main problem, it’s getting the farmers linked up with government and also with Monsanto in order to transfer technology on things like soil and irrigation.

Pollan shot back that growing enough food and getting that food to people who need it both are separate issues. He also noted that Monsanto mostly grows corn and soy as “raw” materials: these raw materials are mostly used for animal feed.

The forum didn’t provide anything groundbreaking, but if Michael Pollan and Monsanto can try to work together then maybe we stand a chance after all.