By SARAH MUIRHEAD

LOCAL farmers, students and agribusiness professionals reacted to a guest lecture by controversial author Michael Pollan at the University of Wisconsin-Madison by joining together in a show of solidarity.

Their goal was to call attention to agriculture and show their pride in their profession.

As they boarded school buses at Vita Plus headquarters in Madison, where they initially gathered for ice cream and cheese, they were reminded that the event was not a "protest" but, instead, a way of making themselves, as agricultural producers, available to tell agriculture's story.

That is exactly what they did when they arrived at the Kohl Center on campus, where Pollan was set to speak. They panned out and answered questions, conducted television interviews and told their stories.

Inside the conference center, Pollan, who was there to discuss his book In Defense of Food, acknowledged the group's presence, thanked them for coming and told them they are the solution to the nation's greatest challenges: health care, climate change and the energy crisis.

Organizing in about a week's time, local farmers, calling themselves In Defense of Farming, decided they were tired of Pollan's ongoing attacks on their industry and took to inviting fellow farmers, students, agriculture professionals and "people who are thankful for our safe abundant food supply" to attend the event and wear the color green.

About 350 green t-shirts were handed out and worn bearing the words "In Defense of Farming ... Eat food. Be healthy. Thank farmers."

Pollan, who got paid $25,000 to come speak, was brought to campus by the university's Center for Humanities and was already scheduled to speak before his book was chosen for the newly launched common book program known as Go Big Read.

Go Big Read was initiated by university chancellor Carolyn "Biddy" Martin as a way to engage members of the campus community and beyond in a shared, academically focused reading experience. Pollan's book is the first to be chosen for the program.

"The choice of this book for the Go Big Read, together with the recent movie 'Food Inc.' and the Time magazine cover story and now a New York Times article attacking Wisconsin dairy farms, all call into question the decisions we make on our farms about raising crops and animals. It was important that we show up at this public event to share our stories," said Dr. Jim Mlsna, a veterinarian and dairy producer.

Since there were no other speakers to balance the discussion, Mlsna said farmers wanted to be there to offer themselves as reasonable and respectful people who are willing to talk about their farms and answer any questions people may have about how food is produced. They saw it as a chance to gather and share, he said.

In his lecture and book, Pollan examined the industrialization of food and agriculture and what that has meant for our health and happiness as eaters. He also looked at the growing national movement to renovate the food system.

Pollan claims that the modern American food landscape has blurred the simple question of what to eat through the numerous and often conflicting claims of food producers, marketers and nutrition experts.

He also makes claim that U.S. farmers are too dependent on chemicals, antibiotics, hormones, carcinogens, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and industrial waste and that local, organic-based production is best for our society and would cure the nation's chronic health problems.

Farmers interviewed immediately after hearing Pollan speak said they generally agree with his thinking that getting back to simpler foods is a good idea and makes sense. The area on which they disagree with Pollan is when it comes to how food is produced.

While on campus, Pollan also was scheduled to participate in a roundtable discussion with student Andrea Bloom, representing agriculture, along with Wisconsin dairy producer John Vrieze of Vrieze Farms Inc.

Dr. Jim Mlsna and his daughter Stacy of Ocooch Dairy in Hillsboro, Wis., talked with reporters, students and the public about the dairy industry and agriculture just prior to heading into the Kohl Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to hear author Michael Pollan speak to an crowd of nearly 7,000 on his views about the nation's food system and its "flaws." The Mlsnas, along with about 100 other farmers, students and agribusiness representatives, had green t-shirts that read: "In Defense of Farming ... Eat Food. Be Healthy. Thank Farmers."

It was all about telling the story of agriculture, and that is exactly what farmers, students and agribusiness professionals did Thursday night at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., where author Michael Pollan took to the stage.