Letters to the Editor
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if you have time to mow your lawn, you have time to garden
Seriously though, how much time does the average suburbanite spend moving his/her lawn? Replace some of that lawn with low-maintenance garden, and presto -- less time mowing (with your fossil fuel powered mower) and more time gardening.
Also, I can sympathise with the inner-city thing. I currently live in a small flat with a concrete "yard", but am next year planning on planting some pots with tomato and zucchini plants. Will they feed my whole family for the summer? No. Will they give me a sense of connection to my food, and cut down on the fuel-to-transport/fuel-derived fertilizer/pesticides/supermarket racketeering that I participate in every time I buy a tomato? Yes.
And I heartily agree with a couple of the above posters, that if you can find a local farmer's market, it is the next best thing.
As far as the "only the rich can eat well" nonsense -- I think this is overblown. I heartily agree that anyone earning the minimum wage or on welfare is going to struggle to afford food. Then again, frozen/canned veggies, dried beans, rice and pasta are all pretty damn cheap & healthy and can be bought on sale and saved for later.
I think Pollan's goal in his garden suggestion is to encourage people to re-connect to where their food comes from, and be able to eat something that wasn't produced using (mostly) fossil fuels as its energy source. Its a timely reminder that food can be grown without petrol, in fact, you can even do it in your backyard! (Ok, if you have one.)