--- title: "For Personal-Injury Lawyer, Michael Pollan’s Book Is Worth Fighting For" date: 2023-01-31T16:18:00-08:00 author: Julie Dueck canonical_url: "https://marlerclark.com/news_events/for-personal-injury-lawyer-michael-pollans-book-is-worth-fighting-for" section: News --- [All News](/news_events) / [Publications](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/publications) / # For Personal-Injury Lawyer, Michael Pollan’s Book Is Worth Fighting For **New York Times** | By Patricia Cohen | May 28, 2009 Among the things that Bill Marler feels passionately about are Washington State University (his alma mater), food safety and negotiation. So after he heard about a dustup on campus over the cancellation of a program requiring all freshmen to read the same book, Michael Pollan’s double-fisted examination of agribusiness, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, he stepped in to resolve it. ![Omnivore's Dilemna](https://holistic-kudu.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/download_2023-02-01-002706_mlye.jpg?w=184&h=274&auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&dm=1677187812&s=68043b6cc6a36af2afd2e9953332b915)This month administrators said budget cuts forced them to suspend this year’s program, but some faculty members and students were skeptical. They suspected that the decision had less to do with money than with pressure from the state’s powerful agribusiness interests. After all, they pointed out, the university had already purchased 4,000 copies of the book (published by Penguin Press), which links the agriculture industry to obesity, food poisoning and environmental damage. So Mr. Marler, a personal-injury lawyer who has received a Distinguished Alumnus award and served on the university’s Board of Regents for six years, figured that he would find out if money was really the issue by offering to pay the program’s estimated $40,000 shortfall. The result is that the common reading is back on. “I’m glad to see it wasn’t politics, it was finances,” Mr. Marler, who has frequently sued food companies, said from his office in Seattle. Mr. Marler said a friend e-mailed him an article from The Spokesman-Review newspaper of Spokane, Wash., which reported that “a member of the Board of Regents raised concerns about the work’s focus on problems associated with agribusiness.” Reached at his office, Elson S. Floyd, the university president, dismissed what he called rumors, saying that no one from the board spoke to him before this part of the freshmen’s orientation was canceled. The decision was made after the state cut the university’s budget by $54 million over two years, Dr. Floyd said. A crucial aspect of the reading program involves bringing the author to campus, he added, and the university could not afford to do that. ![The author Michael Pollan.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2009/05/29/books/michael-pollan-190.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)##### The author Michael Pollan, photographed by Alia Malley Other people involved told a somewhat different version of events. Patricia Freitag Ericsson, an English professor and member of the university’s Common Reading Implementation Committee, wrote in an e-mail message that the panel was told that the program was suspended, and that “a substantial part of the reason was because of political pressure growing from the book choice.” “This statement was made by someone who was involved in the controversy at the administrative level,” she added. “There were questions asked about academic freedom, and most people attending the meeting were upset.” Meanwhile, Mr. Marler posted a message on his blog, ,about the episode, offering to underwrite the program’s cost: “I have my checkbook ready.” “I put the blog post up and went home, and then Twitter started zinging, saying ‘Great job,’ ” Mr. Marler said in an interview. On Wednesday Mr. Marler called Dr. Floyd, and the two came to an agreement. Mr. Marler said he would be surprised if bringing Mr. Pollan to the university ended up being so expensive, but added that he would cover the tab, “whether it costs $50,000 or $5,000.” If the total bill is less, he said he would contribute whatever was left over to next year’s common reading. Mr. Pollan, who said he has taken part in about a dozen freshmen readings at other universities for a reduced fee, was doubtful that money was the issue. “The last I’d agreed to was a video conference, if they wanted to save money,” he said in a telephone interview. In any case, he is pleased that the program is back on. Holding a common reading program “at a land-grant university is especially important,” Mr. Pollan said, “because we are in the midst of this national conversation about the future of food and agriculture, and land grant universities have a critical role to play.” “That’s why this really mattered to me.” ### Lawsuit updates about foodborne illnesses [Reactive Arthritis Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=reactive-arthritis&year=all) [E. coli Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=e-coli&year=all) [Guillain-Barre Syndrome Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=guillain-barre-syndrome&year=all) [Salmonella Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=salmonella&year=all) [Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=hemolytic-uremic-syndrome&year=all) [Listeria Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=listeria&year=all) [Irritable Bowel Syndrome Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=irritable-bowel-syndrome&year=all) [Hepatitis A Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=hepatitis-a&year=all) [Norovirus Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=norovirus&year=all) [Botulism Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=botulism&year=all) [Campylobacter Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=campylobacter&year=all) [Shigella Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=shigella&year=all) [Cyclospora Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=cyclospora&year=all) ### Lawsuits updates by year [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 1998](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=1998) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 1999](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=1999) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2000](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2000) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2001](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2001) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2002](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2002) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2003](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2003) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2004](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2004) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2005](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2005) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2006](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2006) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2007](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2007) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2008](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2008) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2009](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2009) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2010](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2010) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2011](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2011) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2012](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2012) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2013](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2013) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2014](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2014) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2015](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2015) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2016](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2016) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2017](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2017) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2018](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2018) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2019](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2019) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2020](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2020) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2021](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2021) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2022](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2022) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2023](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2023) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2024](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2024) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2025](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2025) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2026](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2026) ##### Get Help #### Affected by an outbreak or recall? 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