The Omnivore s Dilemm A Natural History Of Four Meals

Jo-Anney Yandall Food Societies Dr. Kathryn Besio The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals Michael Pollan. New York: Penguin Group, 2006. 1-411 pp., (ISBN 978-0-14-303858-0). As omnivorous beings, it seems that is both a blessing and a curse to have such a vast amount of meal choices to choose from. In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan explores the majority of these options and offers a sort of guide on how to make a choice. The UC Berkeley Graduate School journalism professor takes us on an eye-opening ride with this book where we find out horrifying truths on the ingredients of the foods we eat every day and whether our choices benefit our bank accounts more than they do our health and the earth. The book is divided into three sections with each section focused on the major players in our diet in terms of where they come from. The first section (consisting of the first seven chapters) would, of course, focus the industrial food chain. The second emphasizes alternative foods, mainly organic foods and the last section is based on hunter-gatherer foods. Each section ends with a meal that he consumes and gives us his thoughts on such. Pollan begins his journey of exploring the industrial food chain by taking a trip to the supermarket. Reason being, most Americans, buy their food from such stores. During this trip, he finds what seems to be a wide variety of choices. However, majority of these choices have one thing in common: they have corn in them or