Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 16-20 of 569
 Read it October 3, 2009
Loveswaterfalls (Hyderabad, India)
Awakening,Useful and thought provoking.
Although, I have skipped through several pages.
And it took a while to finish.
It was a gripping read.
And yes it did change my food buying and eating practices.Which is - buy food and eat food. Not food like products!!
Yes! October 2, 2009
Amy Brown
I usually read fiction (to the neglect of my house and family), but I COULD NOT put this book down! Pollan gets down and dirty on the farm(s). I recommend this book to everyone I talk to. It opened my eyes to the behind the scenes world of food and now makes me think before I buy at the grocery store. It also offered me a back to basics alternative to vegetarianism and veganism, both of which I was/am practising part-time because it's healthier for me and the planet. Please read this book, you'll never look at corn and grass the same... and while you're at it, find a local farmers market...
 Could have been really good September 26, 2009
A. Derwent
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I could have given this book a 5/5, but a couple things forced me not to.
First, the grammar is atrocious. Missing commas, too many ands and ors, and simple linguistic mistakes. There are spelling errors also. It was like the book wasn't edited, and was written by someone with a 5th grade grammar education.
Second, the liberal bias is inherent. There is a lot of good information in this book, but blaming the Nixon administration and praising New Deal programs has no place in this book. It will only scare some people away. I really don't see the need to bring politics into a book informing people about the food industry. Don't get me wrong, it's not prevalent, but if I wanted to read about politics, I'd go to the political science section of the library.
If I were to review the facts about the food industry revealed in this book, I'd give it a 5/5. Alas, I found myself tempted to rip out my hair, because of the grammar, and at times disinterested from the politics. I recommend reading this book, especially if you don't know about the evils of the food industry already. However, be warned of elementary grammar mistakes and political insertions.
We don't have to eat animals Michael September 21, 2009
Kristina C. (Long Beach, CA USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have mixed feelings about this book. It is very entertaining, riveting, discusses very important topics, has brought these troubling issues in agriculture to the mainstream...all in a very clever and well written way.
I am grateful for Michael Pollan for doing this, for he may be spurring a revolution in agriculture. This is good.
But I cannot give him five stars. I cannot because of his dismissiveness of veganism as an option to the suffering, waste and ugliness of animal agriculture.
Michael Pollan did not go into the issue of veganism deeply in any way at all. He dismisses it because it seems in contrast to our anthropological and evolutionary roots.
If he wanted to...he could have gone deeper. If he had, and maybe asked some of the millions of vegetarians in this country and numerous groups, he would have learned how it is indeed more than possible to live without animal products. Not only not live, but thrive. But he didn't bother because of his own blindness and personal preference. He simply did not *want* to go there because he himself isn't ready to give up meat.
Or if he went deeper, he would see that many spiritual traditions of the world said "do not kill" and they didn't mean just humans. Or he'd see that there have been vegetarian cultures in the past that did fine. Or maybe he would've come across the idea that maybe we were not meant to live as cavemen...that part of our evolution IS going vegetarian.
He simply did not do the issue justice. That is wrong considering if more people were vegan, there would be less horrible animal intensive agriculture, less killing, less waste, less global warming...yet he ignores it as a viable option.
The more I think about it, the more I cannot believe someone of his stature, his intelligence, his town (an area where there are tons of vegans...how could he miss them?) could be so blind...but he is. He is all intellectual but missing something...um like, ethics and *feelings* that tell you that killing is wrong and disturbing. It is too bad he allowed his personal preferences get in the way of telling the whole truth.
There is another book out called "Eating Animals". In this book, the author is more comprehensive about the issue and does not dismiss the plant based diet as, at least one of the solutions. Eating a plant based diet is not only a strong choice...but it is the best choice as it not only says "no" to factory farming and industrial agriculture but stops the waste of food energy for meat and stops the killing entirely.
 Great book for an objective view of the food industry September 19, 2009
Michael Freeman (Chicago)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was recommended to read this book by a vegetarian yoga instructor several years ago and never got around to it. After several years, I was ready to hear the message and remembered the title. Most books that indict the way we Americans eat are very one-sided with a left wing agenda, i.e. Skinny Bitch. This book is totally focused on the facts and leaves the author's opinions out of it.
Michael Pollan does intensive, detailed research and lets the facts shape the reader's opinion. No scathing rant could be nearly as effective in revealing the U.S. food industry's relentless drive for maximum profits and efficiency. Mr. Pollan has done and continues to do a great service by pulling back the curtain on where our food comes from.
Showing reviews 16-20 of 569
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