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lpin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
p_t_b's review against another edition
4.0
very very often i refuse to read things everyone else is reading just on some obscure compulsion to zig instead of zag. so i avoided this for a long time. it's totally good, eye-opening in places, a little goofy in others, but consistently fun and smart and well-written. it could have stood be a little bit shorter, and i think he equivocates in a few places, but yeah, very good book. i am sorry i assumed everyone's taste was bad.
tanzim's review against another edition
5.0
A big picture book which dives into the details. From detailing the logic of industrial food production which has been warped away from the natural ecological food production of millennia to the ethics of eating animals. Michael Pollan invites you on a great joruney along side him to understand the Omnivores dilemma; that is given we can eat many things, the dilemma is what should we eat?
Great read with illuminating insights into fast food, food at the supermarkets, big organic, foraging and potentially an insight to our own relationships with food across production, commerce, consumption and the circularity or absence of it.
Maslow lists food as a base on the pyramid of needs. Get it right and it will set you up for a less worrisome existence.
Great read with illuminating insights into fast food, food at the supermarkets, big organic, foraging and potentially an insight to our own relationships with food across production, commerce, consumption and the circularity or absence of it.
Maslow lists food as a base on the pyramid of needs. Get it right and it will set you up for a less worrisome existence.
acsaper's review against another edition
5.0
Awesome, and scary at the same time!
As Pollan reminds readers, it is an incredibly astonishing feat to be aware of the industrial processes involved in transforming sunlight into a an evening meal, yet still be okay with eating it! Forgetfulness, oversight and indifference play a very key part here in helping us resolve at least one facet of the complex Omnivore's dilemma.
In exploring just how and where the food we eat comes from, Pollan follows three unique 'food chains' of our modern age, all of which begin with the sun and end on a plate, or, at least some form of serving tray! Though each of the three meals Pollan investigates have have the same conceptual origin, and literal destination, the paths they follow couldn't be more different.
The first meal follows a bushel of commodity corn from an Iowa field through a grain elevator and eventually to the shelves of a chain grocery store. While this is the 'food chain' that most of us are most familiar with, it is easy to argue that this is in fact the most convoluted and foreign sequence of all as the production, distribution and regulation of this food involves an incredible amount of scientific and political intervention, not by any means intrinsic to the process of eating.
From manufacturing plants that chemically de-construct individual kernels of corn in order to reassemble them as products that would likely be unrecognizable by our not-so-distant ancestors as food to the industrial feedlots of the Great Plains where animals are force fed grains that they are evolutionarily unable to digest, in the process generating a slew of health problems for not only the animals but us as the eventual consumers as well, the logic of this industrial food chain is shown to be skewed, incomplete and perhaps just outright wrong.
The second meal Pollan explores is the most agrarian of the triad. Putting in a week of labor on a Virginia farm, the author is able to follow his food directly from the photosynthesizing grasses to his plate, without ever leaving the farm! This remarkable, yet outstandingly simplistic approach to eating seems so, well, human. Easy, it certainly is not, but then again, no one ever suggested farming should be, except perhaps for industrial corn 'farmers' who themselves have relinquished the term in favor of 'growers.' Standing in the face of government regulated 'Organic' this Virginia farm takes a philosophical approach to farming, recognizing the holistic nature of, well, nature, believing, and demonstrating, that in the world of food production, we need not accept the sacrifices of quality (environmental and ethical) that inhere to a zero-sum framework, which nature itself does not align with.
The final meal, while wholly impractical in our modern age, is the most personal of Pollan's adventures as he sets out to hunt, gather or grow every aspect of it. While a few exceptions are made and loopholes created, the meal comes together as the direct result of not one man but the collective efforts, knowledge and assistance of many. Practical it was not, but communal it couldn't have been more of. From hunting a wild pig to gathering mushrooms and growing seasonal vegetables, Pollan gains an appreciation for the rigors of a paleolithic lifestyle.
The book admittedly explores the outer limits of food consumption, from a McDonald's value meal to an all-hunted-and-gathered feast. Yet, what it does do it generate an interest in, and stimulate the discerning nature that is an intrinsic part of being an omnivore. No sweeping claims are set forth and other than acknowledging that McDonald's might not be the healthiest choice out there, Pollan does not push an agenda but rather leaves the reader to draw his own conclusions from the stories within. Written like a true journalist, this was an enjoyable and thought provoking read that I'm sure has made a great affect on many and will continue to do so in years to come as we face a very modern version of the Omnivore's Dilemma.
As Pollan reminds readers, it is an incredibly astonishing feat to be aware of the industrial processes involved in transforming sunlight into a an evening meal, yet still be okay with eating it! Forgetfulness, oversight and indifference play a very key part here in helping us resolve at least one facet of the complex Omnivore's dilemma.
In exploring just how and where the food we eat comes from, Pollan follows three unique 'food chains' of our modern age, all of which begin with the sun and end on a plate, or, at least some form of serving tray! Though each of the three meals Pollan investigates have have the same conceptual origin, and literal destination, the paths they follow couldn't be more different.
The first meal follows a bushel of commodity corn from an Iowa field through a grain elevator and eventually to the shelves of a chain grocery store. While this is the 'food chain' that most of us are most familiar with, it is easy to argue that this is in fact the most convoluted and foreign sequence of all as the production, distribution and regulation of this food involves an incredible amount of scientific and political intervention, not by any means intrinsic to the process of eating.
From manufacturing plants that chemically de-construct individual kernels of corn in order to reassemble them as products that would likely be unrecognizable by our not-so-distant ancestors as food to the industrial feedlots of the Great Plains where animals are force fed grains that they are evolutionarily unable to digest, in the process generating a slew of health problems for not only the animals but us as the eventual consumers as well, the logic of this industrial food chain is shown to be skewed, incomplete and perhaps just outright wrong.
The second meal Pollan explores is the most agrarian of the triad. Putting in a week of labor on a Virginia farm, the author is able to follow his food directly from the photosynthesizing grasses to his plate, without ever leaving the farm! This remarkable, yet outstandingly simplistic approach to eating seems so, well, human. Easy, it certainly is not, but then again, no one ever suggested farming should be, except perhaps for industrial corn 'farmers' who themselves have relinquished the term in favor of 'growers.' Standing in the face of government regulated 'Organic' this Virginia farm takes a philosophical approach to farming, recognizing the holistic nature of, well, nature, believing, and demonstrating, that in the world of food production, we need not accept the sacrifices of quality (environmental and ethical) that inhere to a zero-sum framework, which nature itself does not align with.
The final meal, while wholly impractical in our modern age, is the most personal of Pollan's adventures as he sets out to hunt, gather or grow every aspect of it. While a few exceptions are made and loopholes created, the meal comes together as the direct result of not one man but the collective efforts, knowledge and assistance of many. Practical it was not, but communal it couldn't have been more of. From hunting a wild pig to gathering mushrooms and growing seasonal vegetables, Pollan gains an appreciation for the rigors of a paleolithic lifestyle.
The book admittedly explores the outer limits of food consumption, from a McDonald's value meal to an all-hunted-and-gathered feast. Yet, what it does do it generate an interest in, and stimulate the discerning nature that is an intrinsic part of being an omnivore. No sweeping claims are set forth and other than acknowledging that McDonald's might not be the healthiest choice out there, Pollan does not push an agenda but rather leaves the reader to draw his own conclusions from the stories within. Written like a true journalist, this was an enjoyable and thought provoking read that I'm sure has made a great affect on many and will continue to do so in years to come as we face a very modern version of the Omnivore's Dilemma.
faiithkelly's review against another edition
5.0
This book centers around Pollan's journey to discover the origin of food. Along his quest he discusses various aspects of the food chain, moving from industrial corn, to pastoral grass, and then finishing with hunter-gatherer. This book is very eye opening and informative on how the food industry in America evolved to what it has become today.