The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore.php
The author follows the food chain of four meals.
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No Dilemma, for me
"Omnivore's Dilemma" takes the title from the concept that eating can be risky -- is that a good mushroom or will it make me sick? You have to take chances to learn about food, or find some other way to test it. Pollan follows the most common food ingredients through the chain and, ultimately, I think that what he has uncovered is that the Standard American Diet is making us sick.
This isn't exactly news -- Pollan's story and the way he illustrates the food chain, processing and consumption patterns is engaging and moves along at a great pace. It feels more like a description of a personal journey which I think would make this very appealing to a lot of people. It's not very didactic, and there are some funny parts in there. The chapters on hunting and mushroom hunting gave me some giggles.
Bottom line - don't eat processed food, support local farmers, even if they aren't necessarily organic (ask about "pesticide free" produce) and stop eating things that aren't food.
Jenn's keywords: book, diet, nutrition
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National Eating Disorder
I love Michael Pollan's "big picture" connections that bring it all home for us...the predicament of the nutrition and safety of our food in the midst of our confusion within our culture of what we eat and why. Within the last fifty years, post WWII, during the industrialization of agriculture and the food industry, we have become dependent on fossil fuel fertilization, inaccurate dietary advice, and the marketing blitz of processed foods and fast foods, to the tune of 15,000 new processed foods per year. Pollan focuses primarily on corn and the majority of our bodily carbon content being corn (we are "corn chips on legs"). Listen to Micheal Pollan's "Natural History of Four Meals", as he talks on NPR about the history of our food choices and the anxiety that surrounds it, including obestity, toxicity, and the over production of corn and disposal of it in the form of ethanol (an energy hog): http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5342514.
Cris' keywords: food, meals, corn, food culture, cuisine, diet, nutrition, Ominivores Dilemma, Michael Pollan
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A fascinating exposé of American food culture and industry
This is one of the best non-fiction books, and probably the best book about food, I've ever read.
Michael Pollan follows (as best he can) the history of four meals: 1) a fast food meal, comprising the end of the "industrial" food chain, 2) an organic meal at the end of the "industrial organic" chain, 3) a meal from an alternative farm that is almost completely self-sustaining, and 4) a meal for which the author hunted and foraged the food himself.
Following the industrial food chain is a frightening look at modern industrial agriculture and cattle-raising techniques, and highlights the chain's enormous use of corn and corn-derived materials, as well as antibiotics. Although the majority of cattle in this country consume corn-based feed, a cow is not by nature meant to consume corn, which is one of reasons for the antibiotics.
Learning about industrial organic is also eye-opening. Modern organic food production, although arguably better than non-organic, has its own issues because of the industrial scale needed to make organic produce available to the mass market.
The most interesting food chain for me was the meal that came from a place called Polyface Farms. The process of raising livestock on the farm starts (and ends) with a variety of different grasses. Briefly, the farmers grow the grass which feeds the cattle which (through their manure) feed the chickens and the grass. The chickens also feed the grass (again, manure). The unused chicken parts are composted as well. It results in livestock that's raised in way that's consistent with each animal's nature, which makes for less stressed animals, which in turn produces healthier, tastier food.
Michael Pollan is a great writer -- thoughtful, thorough and informative. He guides the reader through his own thought process with each meal, and he lets the details speak for themselves, without explicitly "taking sides". I highly recommend this book!
Chris' keywords: book, food, eat, eating, omnivore, organic, farming, corn, cattle
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