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The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals |  | Author: Michael Pollan
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
List Price: $26.95
Buy Used: $6.15
as of 11/24/2009 18:00 CST details
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Seller: Goodwill BookWorks
Rating:  569 reviews
Sales Rank: 7757
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition, First Printing
Pages: 464
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.5
ISBN: 1594200823
Dewey Decimal Number: 394.12
EAN: 9781594200823
ASIN: 1594200823
Publication Date: April 11, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The bestselling author of The Botany of Desire explores the ecology of eating to unveil why we consume what we consume in the twenty-first century
"What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn't-which mushrooms should be avoided, for example, and which berries we can enjoy. Today, as America confronts what can only be described as a national eating disorder, the omnivore's dilemma has returned with an atavistic vengeance. The cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet has thrown us back on a bewildering landscape where we once again have to worry about which of those tasty-looking morsels might kill us. At the same time we're realizing that our food choices also have profound implications for the health of our environment. The Omnivore's Dilemma is bestselling author Michael Pollan's brilliant and eye-opening exploration of these little-known but vitally important dimensions of eating in America.
Pollan has divided The Omnivore's Dilemma into three parts, one for each of the food chains that sustain us: industrialized food, alternative or "organic" food, and food people obtain by dint of their own hunting, gathering, or gardening. Pollan follows each food chain literally from the ground up to the table, emphasizing our dynamic coevolutionary relationship with the species we depend on. He concludes each section by sitting down to a meal--at McDonald's, at home with his family sharing a dinner from Whole Foods, and in a revolutionary "beyond organic" farm in Virginia. For each meal he traces the provenance of everything consumed, revealing the hidden components we unwittingly ingest and explaining how our taste for particular foods reflects our environmental and biological inheritance.
We are indeed what we eat-and what we eat remakes the world. A society of voracious and increasingly confused omnivores, we are just beginning to recognize the profound consequences of the simplest everyday food choices, both for ourselves and for the natural world. The Omnivore's Dilemma is a long-overdue book and one that will become known for bringing a completely fresh perspective to a question as ordinary and yet momentous as What shall we have for dinner?
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 569
 Ok November 18, 2009
Gil B. Turturici (Humboldt)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Umm you can watch a movie that is on the web that covers all the info that's in this book. I understand that we need to eat more sustainable products, and that we should stay clear of GMO food products. this book was a waist of money, and the info enclosed in its covers is readily available on the web. Any foodie should already know the information that is in this book.
I'm a chef, and I guess this is a good read for a high school kid that's interested in the negative effects of humanity on the environment pertaining to food sources. I thought this book was more of a historical reference to the concepts behind the multiple course meal, I was wrong, hence forth the reason that I'm giving it 2 stars.
 Mostly fascinating with occasional flights into silliness November 17, 2009
Wendy K. Laubach (Rockport, Texas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When the author is explaining the food chain, he's well-informed, specific, and highly entertaining. Every now and then, he lapses into deeply silly philosophical mode, particularly when he's trying to grapple with the reality of killing animals for food (whether by hunting or in the slaughterhouse), something his pampered urban upbringing has made it nearly impossible for him to do. So I could have used an editor's services in cutting out about 90% of his repetitive agonizing over whether he can actually bring himself to eat a chicken he helped slaughter or a pig he shot in the woods. But, boy, when he finally gets out of that rut and goes back to describing the intricacies of the food chain, is he ever wonderful. The first section, about the prevalence of corn in the industrial food chain, is an eye-opener. Another section, about Joel Salatin's fascinating experiment in sustainable agriculture in the Shenandoah Valley, is worth the whole book. Even the hunting-and-gathering section, which suffers most from his tendency to maunder, is stuffed full of goodies about things like mushroom cycles of life.
 Fantastic Food reading November 17, 2009
Thomas B. Jacques (Riverside, CA United States)
This is a great read, it has made me very thoughtful of what I eat and where my food comes from. The run down of how much corn or things that ate corn or used to be part of corn are in fast food was very mind opening. Drink all the soda you think you are going to want for a while before you read is my only advice.
Excellent! A Must Read!! November 16, 2009
Jillith
I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about, well, corn--the economics, the health issues and the politics all involved in growing and selling corn. I thought this book was well researched and I think that Mr. Pollen did a great job of truly involving himself in the experience. I mean, he spent a week, busting his butt on the farm, living and working with a complete stranger who, although well meaning, is a bit out of the bell curve.
I have to agree with another review regarding the meat. I am a non-red meat eater but I do eat poultry, eggs, and dairy. I didn't think that he was as sensitive as he could have been to those that choose a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle.
I would highly recommend this book. I can't wait to read the Botany of Desire.
This book may change your life. November 9, 2009
Judson Roberts (Houston, TX USA)
Although occasionally sections of this book got a little bogged down and dragged a bit for me, overall it was very fascinating, at times horrifying, and frequently wittily entertaining. Pollan explores three main styles or methods of producing a meal: modern industrialized farming, as currently practiced in America, sustainable agriculture based on pasturing livestock, etc., as practiced on Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and hunter/gatherer food production. If a book based on that premise doesn't sound like it could hold your attention and be entertaining, think again.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 569
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