Summary Of The Omnivore's Dilemma

As fads and trends come and go, there is one certain topic that always stays relevant--food. Whether it be new recipes or tips or restaurants, cooking and cuisine are two of the most popular subjects in America. Many people fret over “revolutionary” diets or organic recipes, yet others fail to actually track down the origins of their foods. Because of this, I did not hesitate when choosing a book. My curiosity pertaining to food got the better of me and I was overwhelmed by this burning desire to find out how our meals are grown, created, and end up in our homes. When I found The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, I read its description and realized that this book would answer all my questions in the history of food. Since many people

The industrial food chain unveils the scary but accurate truths to some of the foods found in our local grocery store. For example, Pollan trails the process of turning cattle in a feedlot to the meals found on our dinner tables. He finds many imperfections in the system--the health problems resulting from feeding the cattle grain and not grass, the overwhelming use of chemicals and antibiotics in crops and animals, and the disgusting and cluttered environments of feedlots and industrialized farms. Section two focuses on organic, or rather, the ambiguous definition of organic foods. Pollan explores the manipulations of labels and advertisements, claiming that their foods are “organic”. However, many people do not know the true meaning of the word “organic”. As decided by the Federal Government, organic foods can use certain synthetic ingredients in foods, but cannot use antibiotics, pesticides, or synthetic fertilizers. These rules were then bent and blurred, making it so that the common “organic” farm was not truly organic. For instance, when Pollan visited one of these organic farms, he was dismayed when he realized that despite the chickens having an outdoor area, it was so small that none of the chickens even bothered to venture outside their confines. It gave a whole new meaning to the words “cage-free”. However, Pollan does visit Polyface Farm, a farm that focuses heavily on the treatment of their animals rather than numbers and production rates. He dwells on this farm for a bit of the book, raving about the high quality of the food and the authenticity of the meals. As the book closes with section three, Pollan journeys through the adventures of the hunter-gatherers, attempting to make a meal from his own hands as well as evaluating the morals and ethics of eating other animals. He discusses the common arguments on both sides of vegetarianism; for example, Pollan mentions Peter Singer’s