The Omnivore's Dilemma
Ratings93
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings93
Average rating4.1
What should we have for dinner? The question has confronted us since man discovered fire, but according to Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of The Botany of Desire, how we answer it today, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, may well determine our very survival as a species. Should we eat a fast-food hamburger? Something organic? Or perhaps something we hunt, gather, or grow ourselves? The omnivore’s dilemma has returned with a vengeance, as the cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet confronts us with a bewildering and treacherous food landscape. What’s at stake in our eating choices is not only our own and our children’s health, but the health of the environment that sustains life on earth.
In this groundbreaking book, one of America’s most fascinating, original, and elegant writers turns his own omnivorous mind to the seemingly straightforward question of what we should have for dinner. To find out, Pollan follows each of the food chains that sustain us—industrial food, organic or alternative food, and food we forage ourselves—from the source to a final meal, and in the process develops a definitive account of the American way of eating. His absorbing narrative takes us from Iowa cornfields to food-science laboratories, from feedlots and fast-food restaurants to organic farms and hunting grounds, always emphasizing our dynamic coevolutionary relationship with the handful of plant and animal species we depend on. Each time Pollan sits down to a meal, he deploys his unique blend of personal and investigative journalism to trace the origins of everything consumed, revealing what we unwittingly ingest and explaining how our taste for particular foods and flavors reflects our evolutionary inheritance.
The surprising answers Pollan offers to the simple question posed by this book have profound political, economic, psychological, and even moral implications for all of us. Beautifully written and thrillingly argued, The Omnivore’s Dilemma promises to change the way we think about the politics and pleasure of eating. For anyone who reads it, dinner will never again look, or taste, quite the same.
([source][1])
[1]: https://michaelpollan.com/books/the-omnivores-dilemma/
Reviews with the most likes.
It's always a good sign to me when I just can't stop talking about things I learn while reading a book. It's also a good sign when a book makes me want to change my life, or at least understand something about my life better. The Omnivore's Dilemma made my want to find a small, closed-loop farm where I could buy all my food from now on. Alas, I haven't quite gotten there, but I am much more aware of what I eat and where it comes from, even as someone who was very thoughtful about the environmental impact of my food before reading the book. The writing is thorough but approachable, and I enjoyed the structure of the book looking at three different food systems.
Good book - very inspiring. I like the practical, realistic approach.
I did not like this book as much as I expected. The first section was almost unbearable - a long, depressing, science lesson about corn. The rest of the book was much better. I especially enjoyed the hunting/foraging section's vivid details and interesting discussion of animals rights. Basically the purpose of this book is to horrify and shame the American public, and in that regard it is pretty successful (it certainly worked on me). Is it a good read, though? Meh.
I started this one again recently, having not made it past the first section on corn. Now I'm to the part where he's about to go pig-hunting. It's great. But it's a tough read because it's hard to ignore changes in my life that need to happen.
