The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

I can say without hesitation that this is a life-changing book. It's elegantly written and unflinching. Pollan is honest about his own cognitive dissonance about being an omnivore, which means he never sounds self-righteous (an impressive feat for the genre). And I love the widespread anthropomorphism of the book, the mysticism that Pollan is willing to embrace as he cites scientific sources.

That said... Halfway through the book I was so depressed that I went home and ate graham crackers dipped in a can of chocolate frosting. All I could think was, so there's no choice! I am going to eat chemicals and toxins and animal byproducts unwittingly every day of my life, and they are going to kill me in the end! By the end of the book, though, I felt like I had a real sense of small measures that I can take to eat in a healthier and more environmentally responsible way. So I went to the farmstand and bought a big old pile of locally-grown buttercup squash, peaches, chard and zucchini. Better than synthetic frosting, right?

I think there are a lot of different conclusions that people can draw from this book, and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who wants to be more mindful about what they eat. For me, it validated my penchant for vegetarianism (and my habitual eschewing of McDonalds), but you might get something slightly different from it. (Pollan is not a vegetarian.) Honestly, I don't think I'll ever look at my plate in quite the same way again, and I feel grateful for that.

Too long winded. My book club loved it because they're foodies. I got his point in the first 100 pages. Where was his editor?

Recunosc că nu am avut dilema omnivorului pana acum, nu m-am intrebat des de unde vine mancarea mea si mai ales de ce mananc. Citind astfel de carti incepi insa sa iti pui intrebari si sa iti doresti sa mananci constient si mai ales echilibrat.
"Pollan a impartit Dilema Omnivorului in trei parti, cate una pentru fiecare lant trofic care ne sustine: mancare industrializata, mancare alternativa sau organica, si alimentele pe care oamenii si le procura singuri (vanat, cultivat, cules). El incheie fiecare sectiune cu o masa- una la McDonald's, acasa cu familia cu alimente bio si o cina revolutionara la o ferma, constituind astfel provenienta fiecarui aliment."
Pe mine m-au impresionat cei patru ani de cercetare ai lui in scrierea acestei carti si mi-au raspuns la multe intrebari legate de alimentatia noastra. Ce mi-a placut cel mai mult a fost alternativa sau calea de mijloc pe care ne-o propune- nici nu alegem sa ne uitam in alta parte si sa ignoram cruzimea cu care sunt tratate animalele, dar nici nu mancam doar plante. Trebuie putin din fiecare, caci fiecare vietate are rolul ei bine stabilit in lantul trofic- fara vanator nu ar mai exista prada, fara prada nu ar mai exista plantele si semintele, etc. Ce e cel mai important e sa stim de unde provine mancarea pe care o consumam, sa fim recunoscatori pentru ea, caci nu industria ne ofera hrana, ci natura.

Not to sound too corny, but this book changed my life and how I view food and the agricultural industry. Of course, I was already aware of some parts of it – namely, the pesticides, the environmental destruction, the green-washing in Whole Foods aisles, the migrant labor, the animal cruelty. But I heavily enjoyed the chapters on corn and grass, which are arguably two of the most important members of our agricultural ecosystem that I hardly spared a thought towards.

This book is information dense, particularly the first two parts, but important when written and still important today. There's something about Michael Pollan's writing that felt very objective, yet very sincere and opinionated. He may have convinced me to start eating seasonally and locally.

I became vegetarian when I was 6 or 7, though I was thrilled while reading the hunting part! The author narrated his experience in hunting so marvellously that I got shocked and questioned myself: do I enjoy it, seriously?! I was also amazed by how quirky can be a mushroom forager! Want to meet one of them!

Ethically and investigatively inconsistent and often contradictory.

From his experience on a small family run "farm" providing for farmers' markets and bourgeois locavore foodies to romanticising his hunting experience and the thrill of his kill, Michael Pollan neglected to explore a number of industries and arms associated with modern food production such as a commercial abattoir and ignored the elephant in the room being the impracticality of his food adventure, and did not touch on the serious environmental impacts of a western diet, the proven health implications of a western diet, and the growing popularity amongst developing counties of adopting a western diet.

Although somewhat informative and often entertaining, I have to question the validity of the statements made as the number of errors presented as facts are quite high, and personal opinions superseding facts are too high to trust all of the statements made.

The author began his food investigation with a particular opinion and completed his journey with that same opinion via a route of cognitive dissonance, excuses, and an intentional lack of research in order to continue with his self aggrandizing point of view.

One of the coolest reads ever. There’s so much variety, not just in food diversity but in literary styles. The Omnivore’s Dilemma is equal parts storytelling and informative, plus equally witty, insightful, and complex. When a book challenges me to reconsider certain behaviors, I know it’s left an impact.

Michael Pollan is a journalist, and an omnivore, curious about where the food he puts in his mouth comes from. In the book he follows four meals from the very beginning of the food chain to his plate. What he finds is that the food we put in our mouths turns out to be a big decision- a moral, political, and environmental one.

Part One- CORN
The discussion begins with CORN. Part one of this book is shocking. I knew corn was the main crop grown in America and that farmers growing it are in big trouble, requiring government subsidies just to stay afloat, but Michael Pollan unravels how it got to that point.

After leaving the farm, most of the corn finds its way to the Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) where it is fed to cows, pigs, chicken, turkey, and now even fish. This is problematic due to the fact that cows aren't built to eat corn. They eat grass. This unnatural diet leads to various health problems for the cow that must be countered with a cocktail of antibiotics and hormones, creating more health problems for us.

He follows the corn from the field to the supermarket, where it now infiltrates virtually every processed food on the shelf. I had no idea that corn is broken down and recombined into hundreds of different forms, most notably oils, high fructose corn syrup, and xantham gum (never knew what the hell that was). Just take a look at the food label of any processed food and your probably eating some scientific form of that kernel of corn.

He followed the corn all the way to his meal at McDonald's. Between Pollan, his wife, and his son they packed in 4,510 calories for lunch. The items that contained the highest proportion of corn turned out to be the soda (100%), milk shake (78%), salad dressing (65%), chicken nuggets (56%), cheeseburger (52%), and french fries (23%). And we thought we were eating such a varied diet. As Pollan points out, we are simply industrialized eaters surviving on corn.

Part 2- GRASS
Part two focuses on the organic movement. Everyone thinks they're making a wonderful decision to eat organic and in one sense they are, saving the soil from all of the synthetic fertilizers and pesticides (although some crazy stuff is still allowed under US organic laws). There are the obvious health benefits of not ingesting those things. The dark side is that the bag of Earthbound Farms baby lettuce mix you just bought traveled 3,000 miles in refrigerated trucks using untold amounts of energy. Organic started out as a local movement, but as demands increased, it was forced to industrialize. Supermarkets don't want to deal with several smaller local organic farmers. They want one large buyer to stock all their produce needs. Big Organic is now a 350 million dollar business.

Meet Rosie, the organic free range chicken:
The lesson taken away from Rosie is beware of food labels that state things like "free range" or "cage-free." These are really meaningless statements placed on packaging in an attempt to lessen the guilt of consumers that have informed themselves about the horrors of industrial factory farming. Michael Pollan tracked down Rosie and it turns out that she isn't out wandering in a field of grass. She's in a long indoor structure confined with twenty thousand birds for the first five weeks of her life. When they open the doors at either end after the first five weeks, the birds habits have been set in place, they feel no need to take a chance out in the unknown (which turns out to be a small fenced in patch of grass that could never support all of the birds inside). As Pollan puts it "free range turns out to be not so much a lifestyle for these chickens as a two-week vacation option."

Pollan then visits Polyface Farm just outside of Charlottesville, VA where Joel Salatin raises cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and even rabbits in harmony with the animals natural instincts. It is the true definition of symbiosis, where each species depends on the others and all depend on the grass. Salatin manages all of this using rotational grazing techniques. The cows come through first, then the chickens. The animals are moved on a daily basis to prevent overgrazing and to allow the proper spreading of the animals' droppings which in turn nourish the soil and grasses. He slaughters the chickens on site, in the open air where any of his costumers can watch and see where their food really comes from. Compare this to the CAFOs where the killing stations are off limits to all observers. What's going on behind those walls? Polyface cows and pigs have to be sent off-site due to USDA regulations. People drive from all over to buy his "clean food" and restaurants in Charlottesville proudly read "Polyface Farm chickens" on their menus. They give a variety of reasons when asked why they come all the way to buy Salatin's food:
"I just don't trust the meat in the supermarket anymore."
"You're not going to find fresher chickens anywhere."
"I drive 150 miles one way in order to get clean meat for my family."
"It actually tastes like chicken."
"Oh those beautiful eggs! The difference is night and day- the color, the richness, the fat content."
It is the alliance between the producer and the consumer. The consumers can look the farmer in the eyes and see that the food is produced "with care and without chemicals." They are also keeping the moeny in the community by supporting local farmers.

Part 3- The Forest
His final meal is from ingredients derived from Pollan's owe efforts through hunting and gathering. He realizes this is an unrealistic option in terms of our daily eating, but he wants to undergo this experiment to bring him closer to the food he eats. After hunting wild boar, gathering mushrooms from the forest, collecting cherries from a tree in the neighborhood, he discovers what is for him, "the perfect meal." Why perfect? His meal would not have been possible without the number of people that helped him in his hunting and gathering endeavours. It was an open food chain. He knew where all the ingredients came from and their were no hidden costs. "A meal that is eaten in full consciousness of what it took to make it is worth preparing every now and again, if only as a way to remind us of the true costs of the things we take for granted."

The bottom line:
What are we eating?
Where did it come from?
How did it make it to our table?
What is the true cost? (politically, environmentally, ethically, and in terms of the public health)