Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Penguin (2007), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 464 pages
Description
What should we have for dinner? When you can eat just about anything nature (or the supermarket) has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety, especially when some of the foods might shorten your life. Today, buffeted by one food fad after another, America is suffering from a national eating disorder. As the cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast food outlet confronts us with a bewildering and treacherous landscape, what's at stake becomes not only our own and our children's health, but the health of the environment that sustains life on earth. Pollan follows each of the food chains--industrial food, organic or alternative food, and food we forage ourselves--from the source to the final meal, always emphasizing our coevolutionary relationship with the handful of plant and animal species we depend on. The surprising answers Pollan offers have profound political, economic, psychological, and even moral implications for all of us.--From publisher description.… (more)
Media reviews
But for Pollan, the final outcome is less important than the meal's journey from the soil to the plate. His supermeticulous reporting is the book's strength — you're not likely to get a better explanation of exactly where your food comes from.
User reviews
LibraryThing member PaulBerauer
Few Americans think about where their food comes from, beyond the grocery store shelf. One might admire the picturesque farm pictured on a bag of salad, or even prefer Florida oranges, but is probably safe to say that’s about as deep as the average person’s thinking goes on the subject. Yet
To understand the basics of the American food system, you have to understand the miracle crop that is corn. For well, pretty much everyone in America except the people who grow it, it should seem odd that such an unassuming crop should play such an important role in our everyday lives. The fact is that it is in pretty much everything we consume, from the sugary soda you drink to the ethanol in your gas tank. It is also the topic of the first portion of the book aptly named ‘Industrial Corn’. While there have been undoubtedly been many studies and other works that go into detail about why this reliance on corn should matter to us as the everyday consumer, and it does, few are as well written or as personal as “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”.
The fact is, nothing on our table is exactly what it seems. That the organic chicken you ate for dinner? Raised in a massive farm-factory barely different that a ‘normal’ (for little in grocery stores can be called normal) chicken. That shine on your orange? Made from corn and a bit little food magic. And those organics steaks you bought probably spent almost as much time in a stockyard as the much cheaper, normal steaks did. Confused? Angry? You should be, especially since the way we raise food (according to Pollan and proven by an increasing amount of studies) is destroying not only the environment, but hurting our health too. And that is the omnivores dilemma: with some many choices available for us to eat, how do we decide which ones are safe?
This is the basic question Mr. Pollan sets out to answer, and it one that he definitively answers: the modern food system is fundamentally broken and unable to provide us with food that both is nutritional to us and does not leave the earth irrevocably damaged.
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what we don’t realize is that where are food comes from has a dramatic impact on our lives and on the lives of future generations. Yet this is the main focus of Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, the widely popular look at what is wrong with America’s food system. As you read, you not only trace Mr. Pollan on his personal quest to learn about the food he eats, you also trace the food from the farm or stock yard to your table.To understand the basics of the American food system, you have to understand the miracle crop that is corn. For well, pretty much everyone in America except the people who grow it, it should seem odd that such an unassuming crop should play such an important role in our everyday lives. The fact is that it is in pretty much everything we consume, from the sugary soda you drink to the ethanol in your gas tank. It is also the topic of the first portion of the book aptly named ‘Industrial Corn’. While there have been undoubtedly been many studies and other works that go into detail about why this reliance on corn should matter to us as the everyday consumer, and it does, few are as well written or as personal as “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”.
The fact is, nothing on our table is exactly what it seems. That the organic chicken you ate for dinner? Raised in a massive farm-factory barely different that a ‘normal’ (for little in grocery stores can be called normal) chicken. That shine on your orange? Made from corn and a bit little food magic. And those organics steaks you bought probably spent almost as much time in a stockyard as the much cheaper, normal steaks did. Confused? Angry? You should be, especially since the way we raise food (according to Pollan and proven by an increasing amount of studies) is destroying not only the environment, but hurting our health too. And that is the omnivores dilemma: with some many choices available for us to eat, how do we decide which ones are safe?
This is the basic question Mr. Pollan sets out to answer, and it one that he definitively answers: the modern food system is fundamentally broken and unable to provide us with food that both is nutritional to us and does not leave the earth irrevocably damaged.
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LibraryThing member the_hag
I cannot even begin to explain how powerful an effect this book has had on how I think and feel about how I have spent my life eating and living. I did previously read a number of book of a similar vein (Fast Food Nation, The Crazymakers, Eat Here, The Obesity Myth, Is Our Food Safe?), but this one
Pollan's book is divided into three sections, each ending with a meal eaten based on how the food from that particular chapter was grown. Section one was all about the corn and soybean agribusiness. I knew McDonald's food was bad for you, but really, even after reading Fast Food Nation I had no idea that so much of what we can get to eat from a fast food joint is made from corn...it's in practically everything! This section, for me, was some of the most disturbing information I've read yet about fast food and the "corn industry."
In the second section, I was even more amazed about what I didn't know about how animals are kept, I had an inkling (I don't live in a cave or under a rock...heh), but this was plainly and succinctly explained and what I read was chilling. I can't say that I'll ever look at a steak or chicken at the grocery store the same way again. For the second section Pollan even shoots down the eating of organic foods from places like the Wholefoods Market chain...from the perspective of this book, this is nearly as pointless and "costly" to the environment as traditional agribusiness and large scale animal farms. Reading this section was also a real eye-opener for me. I particularly enjoyed the section about Polyface Farm, as it shows how a small scale sustainable farm CAN make it all work without chemicals, pesticides, and hormones/antibiotics!
The final section focuses on hunting and gathering a totally locally produced meal and I was rather unhappy with the amount of time Pollan spent enmeshed in inner turmoil regarding hunting and how evil it is or isn't. Since I grew up with a father who hunted...this was a bit much for me...you either hunt or you don't and a lot of people cannot stomach killing something with their own hands, "dressing it" and taking it home to eat. This section, for me, was reminiscent of Coming Home to Eat by Gary Paul Nabhan (which I thoroughly enjoyed and also highly recommend), but with more whining about how hunting makes the author feel.
Simply put, this is one of the most powerful books I've ever read about what is wrong with how we eat and I highly recommend it...it's not an easy read, it's over 400 pages and a bit dry too...but it's worth wading though it, you'll come out of it a changed person. That's not to say the book is without errors, for it does have its share of small ones, but these are easy enough to pick out and move forward from, the overall message is what is important here. For me, this cinched how I was already feeling and pushed me even further down the path. I must admit, Pollan's ending left much to be desired...he basically says the problem is not solvable, but it is, just not in a way that is easy or that "big business" would be very happy with. The "solution" is to move away from agribusiness and back to more local food communities, each of needs to begin to take a part in these "local food community." We need to become more aware of where our food is coming from and to make those tough choices regarding seasonal eating and pasture fed animals and even in the return to growing some of our own food at home - I look around everyday and see these huge manicured lawns and no gardens. I suspect this conclusion was not made by the author directly because people don't want to hear it. It could be said this is inferred or a logical conclusion based on what the author wrote, but it's not directly SAID anywhere in the book, I suspect that this is because it would be very unpopular...people are already too busy and for "us," as a people, to go back to smaller scale farms and locally grown and raised foods, it would mean a BIG change in how we live, changes most people aren't willing to make or simply cannot make given how many hours they work. I personally think it's far past time for this to happen, but I believe that most people aren't there just yet. Reading The Omnivore's Dilemma might help move people further along to realizing how screwed up our food economy is and THAT is a good thing in my book! A+ and highly recommended, I'll definitely be buying a copy for my bookshelf (I got this one from the library)!
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really brought home the complexity and extent to which agribusiness has invaded our everyday lives...by controlling what we eat...or rather what the foods we eat are made out of. I had thought about what I eat and how I eat many times before and in giving up fast food and soda and changing out margarine for butter (yes, I really did finally do it...we don't eat margarine any longer) and I thought I'd come a long way in my "battle" against sugar, caffeine, ect. As it turns out, the "problem" is a lot more pervasive than what I initially believed it to be and what was wrong with my fast food meal, is pretty much wrong with everything else I can pick up at my local grocery store...even the meat. It's not being cliché or trite when I say after reading this book, I will never look at food the same way again...because I really am looking at the food I eat differently and while I can by no means toss out the contents of my pantry or refrigerator (which I'd really love to do), I CAN begin making a series of changes...but these changes come at a high cost (both monetary and emotional)...food grown more sustainably and not built on corn is more expensive in terms of money and then there is the convincing of my family to eat it. Also up for consideration is the time spent researching and tracking down foods that actually are grown/raised in a way that is natural and healthy for the environment in general, for the food itself and for the people eating it, but this book makes me want to do just that (and I'm a fat, lazy 35 year old, so that says something)!! Pollan's book is divided into three sections, each ending with a meal eaten based on how the food from that particular chapter was grown. Section one was all about the corn and soybean agribusiness. I knew McDonald's food was bad for you, but really, even after reading Fast Food Nation I had no idea that so much of what we can get to eat from a fast food joint is made from corn...it's in practically everything! This section, for me, was some of the most disturbing information I've read yet about fast food and the "corn industry."
In the second section, I was even more amazed about what I didn't know about how animals are kept, I had an inkling (I don't live in a cave or under a rock...heh), but this was plainly and succinctly explained and what I read was chilling. I can't say that I'll ever look at a steak or chicken at the grocery store the same way again. For the second section Pollan even shoots down the eating of organic foods from places like the Wholefoods Market chain...from the perspective of this book, this is nearly as pointless and "costly" to the environment as traditional agribusiness and large scale animal farms. Reading this section was also a real eye-opener for me. I particularly enjoyed the section about Polyface Farm, as it shows how a small scale sustainable farm CAN make it all work without chemicals, pesticides, and hormones/antibiotics!
The final section focuses on hunting and gathering a totally locally produced meal and I was rather unhappy with the amount of time Pollan spent enmeshed in inner turmoil regarding hunting and how evil it is or isn't. Since I grew up with a father who hunted...this was a bit much for me...you either hunt or you don't and a lot of people cannot stomach killing something with their own hands, "dressing it" and taking it home to eat. This section, for me, was reminiscent of Coming Home to Eat by Gary Paul Nabhan (which I thoroughly enjoyed and also highly recommend), but with more whining about how hunting makes the author feel.
Simply put, this is one of the most powerful books I've ever read about what is wrong with how we eat and I highly recommend it...it's not an easy read, it's over 400 pages and a bit dry too...but it's worth wading though it, you'll come out of it a changed person. That's not to say the book is without errors, for it does have its share of small ones, but these are easy enough to pick out and move forward from, the overall message is what is important here. For me, this cinched how I was already feeling and pushed me even further down the path. I must admit, Pollan's ending left much to be desired...he basically says the problem is not solvable, but it is, just not in a way that is easy or that "big business" would be very happy with. The "solution" is to move away from agribusiness and back to more local food communities, each of needs to begin to take a part in these "local food community." We need to become more aware of where our food is coming from and to make those tough choices regarding seasonal eating and pasture fed animals and even in the return to growing some of our own food at home - I look around everyday and see these huge manicured lawns and no gardens. I suspect this conclusion was not made by the author directly because people don't want to hear it. It could be said this is inferred or a logical conclusion based on what the author wrote, but it's not directly SAID anywhere in the book, I suspect that this is because it would be very unpopular...people are already too busy and for "us," as a people, to go back to smaller scale farms and locally grown and raised foods, it would mean a BIG change in how we live, changes most people aren't willing to make or simply cannot make given how many hours they work. I personally think it's far past time for this to happen, but I believe that most people aren't there just yet. Reading The Omnivore's Dilemma might help move people further along to realizing how screwed up our food economy is and THAT is a good thing in my book! A+ and highly recommended, I'll definitely be buying a copy for my bookshelf (I got this one from the library)!
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LibraryThing member shawnd
I was expecting a tight and factual account of the origin and path of ingredients as they came together into four meals. Instead, the author provides a meandering sociological treatise on agriculture, vegetarianism, industrial food, the Organic movement, and his own feelings about food. I did enjoy
The initial section about corn is amazing and I think many readers would be hard pressed to not have their lives changed by reading this. The middle of the book is basically a deep dive profile of an organic farm, Polyface Farm in Virginia. It goes into deep detail about how to harvest and uses grasses--including rotation schedules, cellular biology, and the author's philosophical or metaphorical musings about it. It ends with a section on hunting and foraging that is filled with interesting personalities. By ignoring the banal and sometimes tiresome ramblings, the quirky personalities, revelatory information, and general writing and content are amazing.
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the book. It did change my thinking about food, and our family's buying habits. But the book can be challenging as the structure is loose and bounces around. The initial section about corn is amazing and I think many readers would be hard pressed to not have their lives changed by reading this. The middle of the book is basically a deep dive profile of an organic farm, Polyface Farm in Virginia. It goes into deep detail about how to harvest and uses grasses--including rotation schedules, cellular biology, and the author's philosophical or metaphorical musings about it. It ends with a section on hunting and foraging that is filled with interesting personalities. By ignoring the banal and sometimes tiresome ramblings, the quirky personalities, revelatory information, and general writing and content are amazing.
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LibraryThing member Lisa2013
recommended for: omnivores & anyone interested in the state of agriculture in the U.S.
I was resistant to reading this book because I’m not an omnivore, and also I thought that Pollan’s book The Botany of Desire was brilliant and I suspected I would not feel as fond of this one, which is
The sub-title of this book could read: It’s Really Ok To Eat Dead Animals, Really It Is. Which I realize for most people it is. But eating flesh foods and other foods made from animals such as dairy and eggs is simply what the vast majority of this book’s readers and the population as a whole do; it’s not an unique argument.
But, I loved the fungi chapter and the corn section. The chapter on mushrooms I’m sure I enjoyed so much because a close friend of mine has told stories of her rural Indiana upbringing and of the very small morel patch they have on their property. So it was really fun for me to read about the foraging/hunting of the mushrooms, including local morels. (The author lives about 30 minutes drive from me and I recognized many of the locations in the book.) The corn section (about the deliberate infusion of corn products into just about every processed food) made me determined to cut way down on the processed foods that I often eat: the one real way this book changed me, not an insignificant one.
A good part of this (apparently beloved) book seemed to me to be the author’s belabored argument that it’s perfectly fine to eat animals. His treatise looked like his attempt to avoid cognitive dissonance (his term although I was already thinking of it like that) so that he could continue to eat in peace as an omnivore, along with about 97% of the U.S. population; being omnivorous is the dominant paradigm. Anyway, his waxing poetic over the glories of killing and eating animals did not sway me. It’s interesting that Pollan continually rebuts his own arguments, but I wasn’t convinced his questioning was as honest as he wanted it to appear, as it seemed to me he already knew the answers he wanted to arrive at about being omnivorous. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he would agree with me about that.
Some of his facts and figures were off. When he talks about tens of millions of animals killed for food in the U.S. for instance; actually, the latest figures I’ve read are 11 billion every year, not including fish. Even the call to eat locally, which I usually subscribe to, is not to be so simplified. One contradictory example I can think of (this issue is not addressed in the book) is the consuming of products (chocolate, coffee, dried fruit, nuts) from the distant rainforest, which, in my opinion, is much preferable to continuing to cut down rainforest trees, and which the natives will allow if they can’t make their living from the rainforest in other ways.
I know my philosophy is shared by a relative few, but the fast food meals, the description which was intended to highlight the large amounts of corn products in all the foods, while I found that surprising and unfortunate, it was the cow and chicken parts of the meal that disturbed me the most. And, as far as the “idyllic” Polyface Farm, I truly wonder what they could do 100% plant products grown.
I was resistant to reading this book because I’m not an omnivore, and also I thought that Pollan’s book The Botany of Desire was brilliant and I suspected I would not feel as fond of this one, which is
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certainly true. He does write well, but I didn’t find that this book had the eloquence or elegance of the other.The sub-title of this book could read: It’s Really Ok To Eat Dead Animals, Really It Is. Which I realize for most people it is. But eating flesh foods and other foods made from animals such as dairy and eggs is simply what the vast majority of this book’s readers and the population as a whole do; it’s not an unique argument.
But, I loved the fungi chapter and the corn section. The chapter on mushrooms I’m sure I enjoyed so much because a close friend of mine has told stories of her rural Indiana upbringing and of the very small morel patch they have on their property. So it was really fun for me to read about the foraging/hunting of the mushrooms, including local morels. (The author lives about 30 minutes drive from me and I recognized many of the locations in the book.) The corn section (about the deliberate infusion of corn products into just about every processed food) made me determined to cut way down on the processed foods that I often eat: the one real way this book changed me, not an insignificant one.
A good part of this (apparently beloved) book seemed to me to be the author’s belabored argument that it’s perfectly fine to eat animals. His treatise looked like his attempt to avoid cognitive dissonance (his term although I was already thinking of it like that) so that he could continue to eat in peace as an omnivore, along with about 97% of the U.S. population; being omnivorous is the dominant paradigm. Anyway, his waxing poetic over the glories of killing and eating animals did not sway me. It’s interesting that Pollan continually rebuts his own arguments, but I wasn’t convinced his questioning was as honest as he wanted it to appear, as it seemed to me he already knew the answers he wanted to arrive at about being omnivorous. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he would agree with me about that.
Some of his facts and figures were off. When he talks about tens of millions of animals killed for food in the U.S. for instance; actually, the latest figures I’ve read are 11 billion every year, not including fish. Even the call to eat locally, which I usually subscribe to, is not to be so simplified. One contradictory example I can think of (this issue is not addressed in the book) is the consuming of products (chocolate, coffee, dried fruit, nuts) from the distant rainforest, which, in my opinion, is much preferable to continuing to cut down rainforest trees, and which the natives will allow if they can’t make their living from the rainforest in other ways.
I know my philosophy is shared by a relative few, but the fast food meals, the description which was intended to highlight the large amounts of corn products in all the foods, while I found that surprising and unfortunate, it was the cow and chicken parts of the meal that disturbed me the most. And, as far as the “idyllic” Polyface Farm, I truly wonder what they could do 100% plant products grown.
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LibraryThing member Clif
I'm satisfied to buy my food from the supermarket and not worry about where it came from. So the prospect of tracing the American human food chain to its origins seemed akin to taking bitter medicine for me. But I wanted to be a well informed world citizen so I started this book with some
Here are some questions answered by this book:
1. Why does a typical US citizen have a higher percentage of carbon atoms in their body that originated in a corn plant than a typical Mexican? (Despite the fact that Mexican's eat a lot of corn tortillas and Anglo-American's eat a lot of wheat bread.)
2. What does "Free range chicken" mean? How free and how large was the range?
3. Is "industrial-organic" an oxymoron? Or what does "organic" mean?
4. Why would being a "grass farmer" be considered by some to be a revolutionary way of farming?
This book was published in 2006, so the prices for corn, wheat and soybeans have risen significantly since then due to the increase in demand caused by ethanol production. So some of the things said in the book about corn prices are a little dated. But fuel and fertilizer prices have risen also, so the overall discussion about the profitability of farming is still probably correct.
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apprehension. Fortunately, I found the author to be a entertaining story teller. I found the last quarter of the book especially entertaining where the author tells about his experiments with being a hunter-gatherer. However, the underlying message of the book is a serious one that everybody should hear. The book teaches the reader compelling lessons about what we are actually eating and what the costs of our choices are in terms of our dependence on oil, the toll on the environment, and the health of our bodies.Here are some questions answered by this book:
1. Why does a typical US citizen have a higher percentage of carbon atoms in their body that originated in a corn plant than a typical Mexican? (Despite the fact that Mexican's eat a lot of corn tortillas and Anglo-American's eat a lot of wheat bread.)
2. What does "Free range chicken" mean? How free and how large was the range?
3. Is "industrial-organic" an oxymoron? Or what does "organic" mean?
4. Why would being a "grass farmer" be considered by some to be a revolutionary way of farming?
This book was published in 2006, so the prices for corn, wheat and soybeans have risen significantly since then due to the increase in demand caused by ethanol production. So some of the things said in the book about corn prices are a little dated. But fuel and fertilizer prices have risen also, so the overall discussion about the profitability of farming is still probably correct.
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LibraryThing member Pferdina
This very interesting book caused me to think more about what I eat. It is organized roughly parallel to four meals the author eats: one of fast-food from McDonalds, one of organic foods purchased at Whole Foods, one made from local farm produce from Polyface Farm, and one from wild pig and other
The opening section on corn culture, and how humans (at least in the U.S.) may be at least as dependent on the corn plant as the corn is on us, was eye-opening. I look at nutrition labels in a new way after reading about how many additives are made from corn. Also, the amount of fertilizer that is needed to grow the endless sea of corn plants, nearly all made from oil, is staggering. Then there are the feedlot cattle, evolved to eat grass but engineered to survive on corn so that we can have cheap beef.
From corn, Pollan moves on to organic food, seemingly the opposite to the industrial agriculture he explored in the first section. But, not really. The organic you buy at Whole Foods may be just as industrial (and not nearly as "organic") as you think. The chickens, for example, that are kept indoors for five weeks and allowed access to outdoor lawn for only the last two weeks of their short lives, are only marginally different from the regular chickens. Yet, by investigating what is involved in the organic movement, thinking people can find out whether their choices are really making the difference they believe.
Thirdly, Pollan spends a week on Polyface Farm in Virginia, learning about grass farming, which develops interconnected relationships between species to improve all of them. The cattle graze on grass (which is made up of many varied species) and are moved to fresh grass daily. Chickens are moved in afterward to eat the grubs that grow in the cowpats and scatter the manure over the field. The grass grows anew and is soon ready for more cattle. This was, for me, the best part of the book; the message seemed clear that eating locally, knowing the farmer who grows the food and the conditions under which that occurs, is the most sustainable and most responsible way to be. Driving 150 miles to get that food (as did some people at Polyface) still seems questionable to me, however, for the quantity of gasoline burned in the process.
Lastly, the author shoots a wild pig and hunts morel mushrooms. This is the modern equivalent to hunter-gather cuisine. Pollan shows that it is indeed possible, but not very likely for most Americans. Who among us would go out to the woods in the freezing early morning to track down a pig, and then kill it and cut it up ourselves before bringing it home to cook? There are some, to be sure, but it is just not going to happen for many others.
I enjoyed this book and felt educated by it. I resolved to find out more about locally produced food in my area and to try to eat less processed stuff.
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things he hunted and gathered himself. The opening section on corn culture, and how humans (at least in the U.S.) may be at least as dependent on the corn plant as the corn is on us, was eye-opening. I look at nutrition labels in a new way after reading about how many additives are made from corn. Also, the amount of fertilizer that is needed to grow the endless sea of corn plants, nearly all made from oil, is staggering. Then there are the feedlot cattle, evolved to eat grass but engineered to survive on corn so that we can have cheap beef.
From corn, Pollan moves on to organic food, seemingly the opposite to the industrial agriculture he explored in the first section. But, not really. The organic you buy at Whole Foods may be just as industrial (and not nearly as "organic") as you think. The chickens, for example, that are kept indoors for five weeks and allowed access to outdoor lawn for only the last two weeks of their short lives, are only marginally different from the regular chickens. Yet, by investigating what is involved in the organic movement, thinking people can find out whether their choices are really making the difference they believe.
Thirdly, Pollan spends a week on Polyface Farm in Virginia, learning about grass farming, which develops interconnected relationships between species to improve all of them. The cattle graze on grass (which is made up of many varied species) and are moved to fresh grass daily. Chickens are moved in afterward to eat the grubs that grow in the cowpats and scatter the manure over the field. The grass grows anew and is soon ready for more cattle. This was, for me, the best part of the book; the message seemed clear that eating locally, knowing the farmer who grows the food and the conditions under which that occurs, is the most sustainable and most responsible way to be. Driving 150 miles to get that food (as did some people at Polyface) still seems questionable to me, however, for the quantity of gasoline burned in the process.
Lastly, the author shoots a wild pig and hunts morel mushrooms. This is the modern equivalent to hunter-gather cuisine. Pollan shows that it is indeed possible, but not very likely for most Americans. Who among us would go out to the woods in the freezing early morning to track down a pig, and then kill it and cut it up ourselves before bringing it home to cook? There are some, to be sure, but it is just not going to happen for many others.
I enjoyed this book and felt educated by it. I resolved to find out more about locally produced food in my area and to try to eat less processed stuff.
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LibraryThing member TadAD
If you've read Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, this will have a very similar feel and, to some extent, content. I preferred this one, however.
What Michael Pollan does is trace the production of three types of meals, one of them with two subtypes. The first is what you might
I really enjoyed reading this. It had just the right pace and right level of detail to accomplish its purpose. It, by turns, horrified me about industrial food production, educated me about the various food cycles (natural and otherwise), amused me in a "laugh or you'll cry" manner with details of government policy, and encouraged me with stories of people who are trying to fix things. It also gave a rather thoughtful perspective on Animal Rights and the ethics of eating meat.
As it predicted, it now takes a deliberate act of "not thinking" to eat certain foods. It also makes me wish I lived in the Blue Ridge Mountains to be near Polyface Farm...where organic really is organic, not just a relatively meaningless marketing term defined into emptiness by the USDA.
This is another one of those books that you can make a case for being worth reading regardless of your particular stance on some of the issues, simply because it encourages you to think.
What Michael Pollan does is trace the production of three types of meals, one of them with two subtypes. The first is what you might
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obtain from your local supermarket—you may be surprised to learn that, no matter what you think you're eating, you're really consuming corn. The second is organic food, from nominally organic from a chain store to the food coming off a sustainable, organic, local-food farm. The last is a meal where he attempts to gather and hunt each ingredient himself.I really enjoyed reading this. It had just the right pace and right level of detail to accomplish its purpose. It, by turns, horrified me about industrial food production, educated me about the various food cycles (natural and otherwise), amused me in a "laugh or you'll cry" manner with details of government policy, and encouraged me with stories of people who are trying to fix things. It also gave a rather thoughtful perspective on Animal Rights and the ethics of eating meat.
As it predicted, it now takes a deliberate act of "not thinking" to eat certain foods. It also makes me wish I lived in the Blue Ridge Mountains to be near Polyface Farm...where organic really is organic, not just a relatively meaningless marketing term defined into emptiness by the USDA.
This is another one of those books that you can make a case for being worth reading regardless of your particular stance on some of the issues, simply because it encourages you to think.
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LibraryThing member gwendolyndawson
This is a non-fiction account of the history behind the food we eat. This book describes the great industrial food complex and advocates local, organic foods. Extremely well-researched and well-presented. This was a compelling book and will likely convince you to change your eating habits.
LibraryThing member KApplebaum
Really made me think about where my food is coming from, and how every mouthful has political, social, and environmental implications.
LibraryThing member BenjaminHahn
It has been awhile since I read a book regarding diet or food production and so I found this to be an informative and enjoyable read. I appreciated the format of four meals produced in different ways. It was interesting to see the intricacies of how each system of production played out on a larger
As a former vegan and currently practicing pescetarian, I thought that Pollan did a good job of summarizing the philosophical arguments from Peter Singer for vegetarianism, but his apologetics for meat eating in the subsequent chapter seemed subpar. I just don't think he did enough to prove to the reader that Singer's argument was invalid. Pollan basically claims that vegetarians and vegans miss out on the culture of cuisine that includes meat and that they occasionally have to be rude to people, like the French, for turning down meat dishes when they come over to visit. This is basically an argument from tradition and it just doesn't hold up to Pollan's previous summary of Singer's argument based on morality. Pollan at least got Singer to admit that it was not morally apprehensive to eat meat locally from an animal that was treated and killed in a humane way, like on the Polyface Farm, but that hardly excuses the other 98% of meat production.
The chapter on mushrooms was fascinating and I really enjoyed reading Pollan's chapter on hunting and foraging. His focus on slow food and sourcing locally s something I can get behind, but its a practice that's hard to follow in American culture, especially in Alaska. We just don't have the growing season. We can easily provide our own meat through fishing and hunting, but we are still paying for fruits and vegetables to be shipped up here. Perhaps with global warming we will have a longer growing season. In the meantime I will probably continue to feel guilty about eating bananas that was shipped 3000 miles to get to me.
Based on this book, I will highly consider reading Pollan’s other books, despite the fact that I believe he is being dishonest with himself regarding the validity of the vegetarian/vegan argument.
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scale. Much of the information was repeat for me from previous books like Fast Food Nation, The Food Revolution, and others, but Michael Pollan brings a personal touch to some of the more mundane procedures that go into organic chicken farming or chicken mcnugget manufacturing. As a former vegan and currently practicing pescetarian, I thought that Pollan did a good job of summarizing the philosophical arguments from Peter Singer for vegetarianism, but his apologetics for meat eating in the subsequent chapter seemed subpar. I just don't think he did enough to prove to the reader that Singer's argument was invalid. Pollan basically claims that vegetarians and vegans miss out on the culture of cuisine that includes meat and that they occasionally have to be rude to people, like the French, for turning down meat dishes when they come over to visit. This is basically an argument from tradition and it just doesn't hold up to Pollan's previous summary of Singer's argument based on morality. Pollan at least got Singer to admit that it was not morally apprehensive to eat meat locally from an animal that was treated and killed in a humane way, like on the Polyface Farm, but that hardly excuses the other 98% of meat production.
The chapter on mushrooms was fascinating and I really enjoyed reading Pollan's chapter on hunting and foraging. His focus on slow food and sourcing locally s something I can get behind, but its a practice that's hard to follow in American culture, especially in Alaska. We just don't have the growing season. We can easily provide our own meat through fishing and hunting, but we are still paying for fruits and vegetables to be shipped up here. Perhaps with global warming we will have a longer growing season. In the meantime I will probably continue to feel guilty about eating bananas that was shipped 3000 miles to get to me.
Based on this book, I will highly consider reading Pollan’s other books, despite the fact that I believe he is being dishonest with himself regarding the validity of the vegetarian/vegan argument.
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LibraryThing member tututhefirst
I had been a bit concerned that this was going to turn out to be another one of those proselytizing, preachy, "my way or the highway" diatribes on how we can only eat nuts and seeds if we're going to save ourselves and the earth. Instead, I found myself immersed in a well-researched, objective,
Pollan maintains that as omnivores we can eat just about anything - animal or vegetable - and thus are faced with ethical and physical dilemmas about what we should be eating, how we should be acquiring that food, and how we should be sharing that nourishment with our fellow humans.
To illustrate our dilemmas, he traces four different "meals": the industrial, large organic, local farmed, and hunted/foraged wild meal. He looks at huge agribusinesses dealing in millions of acres of corn and the US dependence on grain fed vs grass fed beef with all the ethical and health issues involved - chemical fertilizers, anti-biotic fed cattle, inhumane treatment of animals, opportunities for contamination and the spread of disease, all in the service of the mightiest crop of the US - CORN. He not only researches but personally visits and experiences all aspects of the meal and how it finally gets to McDonald's where he takes his family to partake of chicken nuggets (are they really chicken?), fries, drinks full of corn syrup, etc. No where does he say we shouldn't be eating any of this, instead he goes to great lengths to provide the reader with the information that is buried in the "nutrition" and "ingredient" labels, so that when we choose to eat this meal, we can understand exactly what we ARE and ARE NOT eating.
Next he takes a look at so-called "Organic" meals and traces the components of a meal purchased at Whole Foods, only to find himself on a huge industrialized "organic" farm in California. Absent the chemical fertilizers and pesticides, there doesn't seem to be much difference in the way the food is produced, picked by low paid migrant workers, and then shipped around the world (can you say carbon footprint???).
His third meal, one that I might label the localvore meal - naturally grown food, free range chickens and grass fed cattle, slaughtered and sold within 100 miles of the farm. When asked about his farm, the farmer replied that he actually was a Grass Farmer, and that the other crops and animals were all an outcome of growing good grass. To me, this was the most fascinating section of the book. I certainly have a much greater respect for the small farmer less than a mile down the road from me. Again Pollan dives into his research, working on the farm for a week, participating in haying, egg gathering, chicken killing, baling, cattle moving, etc. His ability to portray the hard physical labor at the same time he gives us the joy of seeing farming as it was practiced by our ancestors, was especially enjoyable.
Finally, in his attempt to investigate the complete history of human food and eating, he sets out to prepare a meal that is one he hunts and forages for himself. Never having been a hunter, or much of an outdoorsman, he finds himself at a distinct disadvantage, and so enlists the help of an elderly Sicilian as a mentor. This part of the story is amusing as well as enlightening as he sets out to shoot some kind of game in the forest. Due to the time of year, his "catch" ends up being a wild boar. After the old man insists that Pollan must participate in the "dressing" of the pig and guides him through all the gory steps, our author vows that he will never again be able to eat pork. However, he eventually changes his mind when the old man takes his portion and turns it into prosciutto, sausage, and several cuts for roasting. Pollan rounds out his roasted pork meal with a salad of fresh picked dandelion and other salad greens, fava beans, egg fettuccine with mushrooms, fresh cherry tart, and even goes so far as to try to harvest his own sea salt from under the San Mateo Bridge near San Francisco where he was living. He is nothing if not thorough.
Finally, I want to comment on an attitude that bubbles in the background. Everywhere Pollan went, when he interviewed anyone not involved in agribusiness, he heard again and again the theme of eating what our ancestors ate, looking at how other countries view eating as a communal activity to bring people together, NOT as something to squeeze in between soccer games, business meetings, or spa appointments, and ultimately facing the choices of what to eat based on the seasons, the location, and the hard work of local farmers.
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candid, and non-judgmental explanation of many aspects of eating and food production.Pollan maintains that as omnivores we can eat just about anything - animal or vegetable - and thus are faced with ethical and physical dilemmas about what we should be eating, how we should be acquiring that food, and how we should be sharing that nourishment with our fellow humans.
To illustrate our dilemmas, he traces four different "meals": the industrial, large organic, local farmed, and hunted/foraged wild meal. He looks at huge agribusinesses dealing in millions of acres of corn and the US dependence on grain fed vs grass fed beef with all the ethical and health issues involved - chemical fertilizers, anti-biotic fed cattle, inhumane treatment of animals, opportunities for contamination and the spread of disease, all in the service of the mightiest crop of the US - CORN. He not only researches but personally visits and experiences all aspects of the meal and how it finally gets to McDonald's where he takes his family to partake of chicken nuggets (are they really chicken?), fries, drinks full of corn syrup, etc. No where does he say we shouldn't be eating any of this, instead he goes to great lengths to provide the reader with the information that is buried in the "nutrition" and "ingredient" labels, so that when we choose to eat this meal, we can understand exactly what we ARE and ARE NOT eating.
Next he takes a look at so-called "Organic" meals and traces the components of a meal purchased at Whole Foods, only to find himself on a huge industrialized "organic" farm in California. Absent the chemical fertilizers and pesticides, there doesn't seem to be much difference in the way the food is produced, picked by low paid migrant workers, and then shipped around the world (can you say carbon footprint???).
His third meal, one that I might label the localvore meal - naturally grown food, free range chickens and grass fed cattle, slaughtered and sold within 100 miles of the farm. When asked about his farm, the farmer replied that he actually was a Grass Farmer, and that the other crops and animals were all an outcome of growing good grass. To me, this was the most fascinating section of the book. I certainly have a much greater respect for the small farmer less than a mile down the road from me. Again Pollan dives into his research, working on the farm for a week, participating in haying, egg gathering, chicken killing, baling, cattle moving, etc. His ability to portray the hard physical labor at the same time he gives us the joy of seeing farming as it was practiced by our ancestors, was especially enjoyable.
Finally, in his attempt to investigate the complete history of human food and eating, he sets out to prepare a meal that is one he hunts and forages for himself. Never having been a hunter, or much of an outdoorsman, he finds himself at a distinct disadvantage, and so enlists the help of an elderly Sicilian as a mentor. This part of the story is amusing as well as enlightening as he sets out to shoot some kind of game in the forest. Due to the time of year, his "catch" ends up being a wild boar. After the old man insists that Pollan must participate in the "dressing" of the pig and guides him through all the gory steps, our author vows that he will never again be able to eat pork. However, he eventually changes his mind when the old man takes his portion and turns it into prosciutto, sausage, and several cuts for roasting. Pollan rounds out his roasted pork meal with a salad of fresh picked dandelion and other salad greens, fava beans, egg fettuccine with mushrooms, fresh cherry tart, and even goes so far as to try to harvest his own sea salt from under the San Mateo Bridge near San Francisco where he was living. He is nothing if not thorough.
Finally, I want to comment on an attitude that bubbles in the background. Everywhere Pollan went, when he interviewed anyone not involved in agribusiness, he heard again and again the theme of eating what our ancestors ate, looking at how other countries view eating as a communal activity to bring people together, NOT as something to squeeze in between soccer games, business meetings, or spa appointments, and ultimately facing the choices of what to eat based on the seasons, the location, and the hard work of local farmers.
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LibraryThing member beccabgood1
A fabulous, entertaining read. Pollan's subject is universally interesting; after all, we all eat. And he is a storyteller with a knack for finding the little details that bring characters and events to life.
This is the book that convinced me I needed to stop eating factory-farmed meat. The
Pollan's work is a convincing argument for a complete overhaul in the way we approach agriculture, food - and life. You will be glad you read it.
This is the book that convinced me I needed to stop eating factory-farmed meat. The
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horrific "living" conditions of cattle in feedlots and chickens in factories are not only indefensible on humanitarian grounds, but they also lead to poor nutrition on our dining room tables, and far-reaching environmental nightmares. Large-scale organic farming is presented as a limited improvement, at best. Pollan's work is a convincing argument for a complete overhaul in the way we approach agriculture, food - and life. You will be glad you read it.
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LibraryThing member devilish2
Dense, dense writing, but intriguing. There is a plot line to keep you going through the philosophy...
LibraryThing member sunnyd13
A fascinating and in-depth look into food... organic, "industrial" organic, hunting, etc. I can't imagine a reader not changing the way they eat and shop for food after reading it.
While it's well worth the read, at times it gets a bit overwrought. Pollan does occasionally get repetitive. Also, I
While it's well worth the read, at times it gets a bit overwrought. Pollan does occasionally get repetitive. Also, I
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have to disagree with his reasoning on why he doesn't think vegetarianism is necessarily viable (although I think this mostly a matter of opinion/ethics/perspective). Show Less
LibraryThing member figre
Michael Pollan’s appearances on the talk show circuit (particularly some NPR spots) were what attracted me to this book. His discussions about corn and its misuse in the US were compelling. Well, that is in here, and it kicks off with that bang. But the entire book eventually just meanders to an
I guess it becomes evident that I liked the first part of the book (in spite of some philosophical meanderings that tired me) and had less use for the second part (which appeared to be all philosophical meanderings). This is a book worth picking up, if you can wade through the areas which do not interest you (hey – their may be philosophical meanderers who don’t care about whys and wherefores of how we get our food.)
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end. The format of the book is to follow four meals from source to final product – from the most processed (McDonald’s) to the least (a meal he has hunted and gathered). In the completion of his last meal, he discusses how that meal goes off track, starting as pure foraging, but requiring him to make allowances and break his own rules. Eventually, he finds himself almost over his head in constructing the meal. However, the meal is successful, if not as perfect as he would expect. And one feels the book is a little that way. Starting out as one thing, making changes, finding himself in over his head, and, at the end, telling himself it is successful. (Just one example – he is following four meals, but the book only has three sections. Yes, I know why it was constructed that way, but hang with me here.) In general, the book suffers from what appears to be a veering away from a selected path. The first parts are Upton Sinclair (okay, maybe not that militant) as the corn industry is explored, as well as its affect on all we eat. And it continues to explore alternatives that might solve some of the problems. But then it become a Walden, get in touch with the land, ah I am Hemingway and have shot my own meal essay (in the worst sense of that word).I guess it becomes evident that I liked the first part of the book (in spite of some philosophical meanderings that tired me) and had less use for the second part (which appeared to be all philosophical meanderings). This is a book worth picking up, if you can wade through the areas which do not interest you (hey – their may be philosophical meanderers who don’t care about whys and wherefores of how we get our food.)
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LibraryThing member midlevelbureaucrat
It's not often that a book comes along that really changes the way you think and act. I'm guessing that most of us read books that support the perspectives we've developed already. Sure, I've read a ton of great books, and many of them offer new insights and different twists. But books that truly
The Omnivore's Dilemma is one of those big picture, eye-opening books. Journalist Michael Pollan expertly weaves his way through the morass of industrial agriculture, industrial organics which appear on the surface to offer a better way to eat, and into the world of local organics, before detailing his own journey into a personally hunted and gathered meal. I found the entire book fascinating.
Did you know that nearly 60% of all the industrially-created and processed food we eat comes from corn? From the corn-fed beeves and chickens, to purt near all our processed food, (including nearly the entire McDonald's menu), our glut of cheap government subsidized corn has become the foundation for nearly every American's diet. And thanks to these corn-based diets, we have a surplus of obesity, diabetes, and heart attacks, not to mention polluted rivers and farmlands.
Do you realize that the environmental impact of the burgeoning organic foods now so readily available in our "whole food" supermarket chains, and at the neighborhood Safeway, when measured in transportation and packaging costs (read petrochemical costs) is nearly the same as foods grown in the industrial food chain? Sure, they'll be slightly better for you healthwise, but the costs to the planet are just as high.
I had hoped for this kind of measured expose when I read Fast Food Nation a few years ago. Pollan has convinced me of the value - both my own health and that of the planet - of eating foods made, grown, and created locally. Since beginning this book, I've made more trips to the local farmer's market and scanned the cards at the local co-op more diligently to see where my food is coming from. I'm convinced now that it matters. I'm trying to limit the Safeway & Costco visits to toilet paper, toothpaste, and Cheezits. Now I'm considering how to put together my Thanksgiving meal with all local foodstuffs. Go ahead...add a challenge to a full day's cooking!
Now I'll not step out and say I'm a full-blown convert to going entirely local and organic. I know I'll still take the occasional drive-thru for a double cheeseburger value meal now and then. And I'm not gonna quiz the waiter at the local dining establishments on what the chicken ate before I ate the chicken. It's all in perspective. But Pollan has convinced me that a food's provenance matters. We need to understand we are what we eat, and we should try to know what we eat. That shouldn't be so hard.
Anyone up for some Brio sourdough with Humboldt Creamery butter alongside the Willow Creek Farms cherry tomatoes and Cypress Grove Chevre?
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open the eyes, at least for me, are rare. Tom Hodgkinson's book, How to be Idle was the last book that provided me a new way of seeing the world. Christopher Hitchen's God is Not Great which I read earlier this year comes close as well, but it probably served more as reinforcement than a real awakening. The Omnivore's Dilemma is one of those big picture, eye-opening books. Journalist Michael Pollan expertly weaves his way through the morass of industrial agriculture, industrial organics which appear on the surface to offer a better way to eat, and into the world of local organics, before detailing his own journey into a personally hunted and gathered meal. I found the entire book fascinating.
Did you know that nearly 60% of all the industrially-created and processed food we eat comes from corn? From the corn-fed beeves and chickens, to purt near all our processed food, (including nearly the entire McDonald's menu), our glut of cheap government subsidized corn has become the foundation for nearly every American's diet. And thanks to these corn-based diets, we have a surplus of obesity, diabetes, and heart attacks, not to mention polluted rivers and farmlands.
Do you realize that the environmental impact of the burgeoning organic foods now so readily available in our "whole food" supermarket chains, and at the neighborhood Safeway, when measured in transportation and packaging costs (read petrochemical costs) is nearly the same as foods grown in the industrial food chain? Sure, they'll be slightly better for you healthwise, but the costs to the planet are just as high.
I had hoped for this kind of measured expose when I read Fast Food Nation a few years ago. Pollan has convinced me of the value - both my own health and that of the planet - of eating foods made, grown, and created locally. Since beginning this book, I've made more trips to the local farmer's market and scanned the cards at the local co-op more diligently to see where my food is coming from. I'm convinced now that it matters. I'm trying to limit the Safeway & Costco visits to toilet paper, toothpaste, and Cheezits. Now I'm considering how to put together my Thanksgiving meal with all local foodstuffs. Go ahead...add a challenge to a full day's cooking!
Now I'll not step out and say I'm a full-blown convert to going entirely local and organic. I know I'll still take the occasional drive-thru for a double cheeseburger value meal now and then. And I'm not gonna quiz the waiter at the local dining establishments on what the chicken ate before I ate the chicken. It's all in perspective. But Pollan has convinced me that a food's provenance matters. We need to understand we are what we eat, and we should try to know what we eat. That shouldn't be so hard.
Anyone up for some Brio sourdough with Humboldt Creamery butter alongside the Willow Creek Farms cherry tomatoes and Cypress Grove Chevre?
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LibraryThing member MrsLee
In my head I re-titled this the "Privileged" Omnivore's Dilemma. Even though I disagreed with some of Pollan's conclusions or assumptions, I very much enjoyed his telling about his own journey and discovery of the food he eats and where it comes from. At least he did acknowledge that he was looking
This isn't meant to be a treatise on the "right" way to grow/raise food, it is meant to shine a light on what is and take a look at it to see if there isn't a better way. To know where our food comes from and how it is raised, what goes into producing it for our tables. There isn't a farmer I have known (and I was raised on a farm and live in farm country) who wouldn't agree with that.
If anything was missing from this book, it was the many smaller farmers around the country who work their whole lives to raise food because they love their land. In fact, Pollan gave the impression there were only the mega farmers and the small organic local farmers. I understand, he was going for the extremes and making a point, but he really gave an uninformed picture of the many hard-working men and women in America on smaller farms. In fact, he described them as uneducated, greedy fools. My father, my brothers, my sister, her husband, their children, and most every farmer I know has been to college and are some of the most intelligent people around. People who not only have book smarts, but also understand practical living, the land, the plants, animals and weather. You have to be smart these days in order to navigate the business aspect of farming, not to mention the nutrients, climate, and other requirements of whatever crop you are raising.
That offense aside, I did enjoy this city boy's journey to find out where his food came from, and the last chapters on his experience hunting and gathering were quite entertaining. I think he understood his own hubris in the matter. As a girl who grew up among hunter-gatherers as well as farmers, I found his experiences entertaining.
Will this change the way I eat? I doubt it, because I already have chosen to eat only food I can identify, not highly processed "flavored" food. I do go to the Farmer's Market because I want to encourage local people to grow food. I will also buy food at the grocery store because life is hard and I don't need one more thing to burden my load. Sometimes a person just has to make life simpler. I am not worried about the baby greens in a box. I think it is a miracle that humans have figured out a process to grow and harvest them and make them available to people in cities or far-flung locations so that we too can have delicious salads.
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at the issue from a point of privilege.This isn't meant to be a treatise on the "right" way to grow/raise food, it is meant to shine a light on what is and take a look at it to see if there isn't a better way. To know where our food comes from and how it is raised, what goes into producing it for our tables. There isn't a farmer I have known (and I was raised on a farm and live in farm country) who wouldn't agree with that.
If anything was missing from this book, it was the many smaller farmers around the country who work their whole lives to raise food because they love their land. In fact, Pollan gave the impression there were only the mega farmers and the small organic local farmers. I understand, he was going for the extremes and making a point, but he really gave an uninformed picture of the many hard-working men and women in America on smaller farms. In fact, he described them as uneducated, greedy fools. My father, my brothers, my sister, her husband, their children, and most every farmer I know has been to college and are some of the most intelligent people around. People who not only have book smarts, but also understand practical living, the land, the plants, animals and weather. You have to be smart these days in order to navigate the business aspect of farming, not to mention the nutrients, climate, and other requirements of whatever crop you are raising.
That offense aside, I did enjoy this city boy's journey to find out where his food came from, and the last chapters on his experience hunting and gathering were quite entertaining. I think he understood his own hubris in the matter. As a girl who grew up among hunter-gatherers as well as farmers, I found his experiences entertaining.
Will this change the way I eat? I doubt it, because I already have chosen to eat only food I can identify, not highly processed "flavored" food. I do go to the Farmer's Market because I want to encourage local people to grow food. I will also buy food at the grocery store because life is hard and I don't need one more thing to burden my load. Sometimes a person just has to make life simpler. I am not worried about the baby greens in a box. I think it is a miracle that humans have figured out a process to grow and harvest them and make them available to people in cities or far-flung locations so that we too can have delicious salads.
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LibraryThing member booklovercook
This book is about what should be a simple premise: knowing where your food comes from. Pollen traces the origins of the different types of food we eat. From the corn grown by the hundreds of acres that we eat as all manner of processed food to a beef steer from a feedlot to pre-washed bagged
For me, someone who already fancied herself fairly knowledgeable about the issues this book addresses, I found it a really powerful, moving experience to read this book. I know I am a little late to the party on it, but I resisted reading it for a long time because I somehow got the impression that it was a book that basically convinced you to be a vegetarian by telling you about all the horrors of industrialized food. I was already a vegetarian, so I just opted not to read it. But that picture of it is really wrong. It is a much more nuanced book – but in a way that I also found really accessible – and it actually got me to a place by the end where I felt, for the first time in years and years, like I could potentially see myself eating meat again, if under the right, very specific, special circumstances.
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organic lettuce to a chicken raised on a small, sustainable farm to plants and animals that the author forages and hunts for himself. Some of these are more difficult to look closely at than others, but that is really Pollen's point - that we should have the courage to look, that we should take responsibility and make informed choices about what we eat. For me, someone who already fancied herself fairly knowledgeable about the issues this book addresses, I found it a really powerful, moving experience to read this book. I know I am a little late to the party on it, but I resisted reading it for a long time because I somehow got the impression that it was a book that basically convinced you to be a vegetarian by telling you about all the horrors of industrialized food. I was already a vegetarian, so I just opted not to read it. But that picture of it is really wrong. It is a much more nuanced book – but in a way that I also found really accessible – and it actually got me to a place by the end where I felt, for the first time in years and years, like I could potentially see myself eating meat again, if under the right, very specific, special circumstances.
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LibraryThing member TheTwoDs
I guess the sure sign of my feelings on this book are that immediately after completing it, I went to my local farmers' market and purchased a bunch of fresh produce which I then proceeded to use in my home cooked meals this week. However, I also am aware of the paradox - I was only able to make
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such fine (in the surprised words of my wife) meals because I was off from work and had the time to make broiled shark steak with fresh local corn, carrots and string beans; pork chops with local cherry and onion sauce with sauteed local zucchini and toasted almonds; and veal sausage with local peppers, onions and garlic with a salad of local lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers and scallions. Hungry yet? That's how I felt after reading this book. I knew about the horrors of industrial farming, particularly with regards to meat, but the history of how we became so fixated on corn and what it has meant for our diets and the environment was truly compelling. Needless to say, the grass farmer section and the foraging section made me wish I could partake in such a lifestyle. Show Less
LibraryThing member Louise_Waugh
I think everyone should read this book. An honest, thoughtful look at what we eat and why. No moral pronouncements, just a call to consider how we live.
LibraryThing member JeffV
The Omnivore's Dilemma is a very compelling diary chronicling the origin of 4 very different meals. Pollan does as much investigative journalism as possible, but is routinely stymied by large agri-corps who have a vested interest in secrecy. In the mean time, he gives us pause to consider where our
Polland starts with an explanation of how we have become a corn economy. I am no economic guru, but to me, the details seem awfully messed up. Corn, is ubiquitous, present in more processed foods than we can possibly name. Yet it is impossible to be grown profitably. On top of that, as corn prices fall, the only way corn farmers can make ends meet is to increase their yield. Which results in an even greater surplus of crops we cannot use.
So that leads to government policy encouraging the use of corn to make inferior products otherwise. One of those products is corn-fed cattle. Grass-fed is more natural, and healthier.
Next up is the organic farming industry. Pretty much a two-horse race, it is still not the paradigm of virtue that Whole Foods would lead us to believe. Still, Polland finds this to be marginally better than the cheap-food output of the commercial corn industry. One of the themes in the book is that you get what you pay for, and the costs of cheap food are hidden in the form of additional taxes to fund government subsidies. The closer you get to the source of the food, the prices might increase marginally, but ancillary costs are not insidiously hiding in the background.
Next he moves local agribusiness, actually killing chickens by hand that are eaten locally for dinner that night. Better than the previous two options, it is still not a sustainable lifestyle. Community buying clubs contract with local providers, but it a throwback to old days where only seasonal items are really available. Not everything that is needed is available seasonably and locally, however, so some compromise is necessary.
The last portion dealt with hunting and gathering. This involved boar hunting in California, as well as gathering wild 'shrooms and even cherries harvested from a neighbor's tree that was overhanging into his sister's yard. The most impractical of meals, it nevertheless was the most spiritual. I've done this myself partially when I once prepared a meal for 20 based on salmon I caught fishing, but I did not pay so much heed to the side dishes and appetizers. While I still doubt I would go so far as to gather mushrooms myself for such a meal, I think the next time I do so, I will endeavor to use locally-produced items.
I already have a healthy disregard for processed food, and Polland reinforced my concerns. I hope the day comes where economic consideration isn't a factor and I can make better decisions regarding the origin of my food. Finding out that it takes, say, 15 calories worth of energy to deliver 1 calorie of food to my gut is an eye-opener to anyone who wants to be environmentally responsible. It would be nice if global agri-business was more efficient, and perhaps it will get there some day. It was beyond the scope of this book to suggest solutions to this dilemma, but it does a good job suggestion alternatives we might not be aware of.
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food comes from, often with details we'd rather not know. The climax of the book, however, where he prepares and serves a gourmet meal consisting of items he pretty much hunted or gathered, was almost poetic and left me wanting to enjoy such an experience at least once.Polland starts with an explanation of how we have become a corn economy. I am no economic guru, but to me, the details seem awfully messed up. Corn, is ubiquitous, present in more processed foods than we can possibly name. Yet it is impossible to be grown profitably. On top of that, as corn prices fall, the only way corn farmers can make ends meet is to increase their yield. Which results in an even greater surplus of crops we cannot use.
So that leads to government policy encouraging the use of corn to make inferior products otherwise. One of those products is corn-fed cattle. Grass-fed is more natural, and healthier.
Next up is the organic farming industry. Pretty much a two-horse race, it is still not the paradigm of virtue that Whole Foods would lead us to believe. Still, Polland finds this to be marginally better than the cheap-food output of the commercial corn industry. One of the themes in the book is that you get what you pay for, and the costs of cheap food are hidden in the form of additional taxes to fund government subsidies. The closer you get to the source of the food, the prices might increase marginally, but ancillary costs are not insidiously hiding in the background.
Next he moves local agribusiness, actually killing chickens by hand that are eaten locally for dinner that night. Better than the previous two options, it is still not a sustainable lifestyle. Community buying clubs contract with local providers, but it a throwback to old days where only seasonal items are really available. Not everything that is needed is available seasonably and locally, however, so some compromise is necessary.
The last portion dealt with hunting and gathering. This involved boar hunting in California, as well as gathering wild 'shrooms and even cherries harvested from a neighbor's tree that was overhanging into his sister's yard. The most impractical of meals, it nevertheless was the most spiritual. I've done this myself partially when I once prepared a meal for 20 based on salmon I caught fishing, but I did not pay so much heed to the side dishes and appetizers. While I still doubt I would go so far as to gather mushrooms myself for such a meal, I think the next time I do so, I will endeavor to use locally-produced items.
I already have a healthy disregard for processed food, and Polland reinforced my concerns. I hope the day comes where economic consideration isn't a factor and I can make better decisions regarding the origin of my food. Finding out that it takes, say, 15 calories worth of energy to deliver 1 calorie of food to my gut is an eye-opener to anyone who wants to be environmentally responsible. It would be nice if global agri-business was more efficient, and perhaps it will get there some day. It was beyond the scope of this book to suggest solutions to this dilemma, but it does a good job suggestion alternatives we might not be aware of.
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LibraryThing member sturlington
“What’s for dinner? This seemingly simple question takes on a whole new meaning when considered in light of the omnivore’s dilemma — that is, when you can eat pretty much anything, what should you eat, particularly if you want to be healthy? In the United States in particular, we seem
Pollan takes on four meals with four origins in an effort to figure out the answer to the omnivore’s dilemma: an industrialized, processed, fast-food meal; a big-organic, Whole Foods meal; a sustainably and locally grown meal; and a meal he has completely grown, foraged and hunted for himself. (I notice he didn’t mill his own flour for that one, though, which was cheating a bit.) Pollan attempts to trace each meal back to its ultimate origins: the cow that made the McDonald’s hamburger; the organic chicken ranging freely; the wild mushroom growing deep in a pine forest. His fascinating journey takes many unexpected twists and turns, and ultimately leads back to — in the case of the industrialized meal — an Iowa cornfield where the ingredients for most of our processed food, including hamburger, originate.
This book is clearly an indictment of industrialized agriculture, with its dependence on a monoculture based on corn which farmers can’t make enough money selling to even cover the costs of growing but have no other real choice; its treatment of livestock as products on a factory line, creating environments where meat and eggs become less nutritious while disease runs amuck; its overuse of fossil fuels to ship and store out-of-season vegetables across the country to displace those that can be grown locally. But neither does it advocate a return to prehistoric hunting and gathering methods of feeding ourselves. Rather, Pollan wants us to know exactly what we’re eating, where it came from and how much it really cost to produce. He wants to pull down the curtain that shields us from how our food is really grown, raised, slaughtered, processed and distributed. Only then can we make good choices about what we eat that will return to a more natural way of eating, one that is more deeply connected to the soil and sun from which all of our food ultimately originates.
I think this is a very important book for anyone who cares about food to read. And we should all care about food, because food is what sustains us. In nature, everything is connected, and when we attempt to break those connections by removing plants and animals from their natural environments and trying to turn them into predictable machines, the result is inevitably harmful — to the environment, to the plants and animals, and to ourselves. As the end consumers, only we have the power to bring about change, as we each choose what to eat for dinner.
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thrown into a perpetual quandary about what we should eat — low-carb or low-fat? margarine or butter? vegetarian, lacto-ovo, vegan or go for the steak? and shouldn’t it be organic? — primarily because we don’t have a traditional cuisine to fall back on, like the French, Italians, Japanese and Chinese, Pollan posits.Pollan takes on four meals with four origins in an effort to figure out the answer to the omnivore’s dilemma: an industrialized, processed, fast-food meal; a big-organic, Whole Foods meal; a sustainably and locally grown meal; and a meal he has completely grown, foraged and hunted for himself. (I notice he didn’t mill his own flour for that one, though, which was cheating a bit.) Pollan attempts to trace each meal back to its ultimate origins: the cow that made the McDonald’s hamburger; the organic chicken ranging freely; the wild mushroom growing deep in a pine forest. His fascinating journey takes many unexpected twists and turns, and ultimately leads back to — in the case of the industrialized meal — an Iowa cornfield where the ingredients for most of our processed food, including hamburger, originate.
This book is clearly an indictment of industrialized agriculture, with its dependence on a monoculture based on corn which farmers can’t make enough money selling to even cover the costs of growing but have no other real choice; its treatment of livestock as products on a factory line, creating environments where meat and eggs become less nutritious while disease runs amuck; its overuse of fossil fuels to ship and store out-of-season vegetables across the country to displace those that can be grown locally. But neither does it advocate a return to prehistoric hunting and gathering methods of feeding ourselves. Rather, Pollan wants us to know exactly what we’re eating, where it came from and how much it really cost to produce. He wants to pull down the curtain that shields us from how our food is really grown, raised, slaughtered, processed and distributed. Only then can we make good choices about what we eat that will return to a more natural way of eating, one that is more deeply connected to the soil and sun from which all of our food ultimately originates.
I think this is a very important book for anyone who cares about food to read. And we should all care about food, because food is what sustains us. In nature, everything is connected, and when we attempt to break those connections by removing plants and animals from their natural environments and trying to turn them into predictable machines, the result is inevitably harmful — to the environment, to the plants and animals, and to ourselves. As the end consumers, only we have the power to bring about change, as we each choose what to eat for dinner.
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LibraryThing member elsiereads
I learned so much about American food production from this book that it's hard to know where to begin the list. Grass-fed cattle, organic crops, what "free range chicken" really means (not much), how to catch your own yeast, and all I ever wanted to know about corn. The author somehow managed not
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to become a vegetarian despite all of this knowledge, which is pretty amazing to me, but somewhat tangential to the book. Highly recommended. The author does have a couple of annoying quirks, such as consistently modifying the quantity "zero," which if math taught me anything, is immune to modifiers. Show Less
LibraryThing member chengiz
Divided into three parts, (1) Industrial (2) Pastoral (3) Personal, this book is an attempt to follow what we eat, or rather, what Pollan eats. "Industrial" is about conditions in feed lots and so forth. It is informative and entertaining but hardly encyclopaedic or even referential. "Pastoral" is
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about sustainable farming, and mainly talks about Polyface farm in Virginia. Sustainable farming is an interesting notion not only to people interested in farming or knowing where their food comes from, but also to engineers like me who are proselytizers of "efficiency" in all walks of life; and from the way Pollan describes it, there is no more efficient way to farm than the way Polyface does it. It is hard work, but it is the best in terms of productivity and cost, and at the same time doesnt compromise on quality. This is all excellent stuff.But towards the end of "Pastoral" and throughout "Personal" (which is about hunting and gathering), Pollan goes on a snob-spree so unabashed and gusto-ful, referring to Ortega y this and Brillat Savarin that, philosophizing and farting knowledge, that it all becomes positively disgusting. Well, he does say that most things we find disgusting are animal waste products, so cant *really* blame him, but there. While reading "Pastoral", I was ready to give this book five stars, and during the worst passages of "Personal", one, but on the whole, three sounds about right. Show Less
LibraryThing member lwobbe
Everyone should at least read the first third of this book, "Corn", a look at industrialized food products. Shocking, sickening. A look at the organic food industry actually made me feel more supportive of companies like EarthBound Farms. Enjoy your steak tonight? Not so much.
Awards
Commonwealth Club of California Book Awards (Gold Medal — Nonfiction — 2006)
National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist — General Nonfiction — 2006)
The Economist Best Books (2006.1)
Salon Book Award (2006)
James Beard Foundation Award (Winner — 2007)
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction (Nominee — 2010)
Orion Book Award (Finalist — 2007)
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Nonfiction — 2006)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Nonfiction — 2006)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Nonfiction — 2006)
Language
Original publication date
2006
Physical description
5.9 inches
ISBN
0143038583 / 9780143038580