The Omnivore's Dilemma
Edith Gaytan-Cardenas
Fresno State
Part One: Industrial: Corn
Chapter 1: The Plant: Corn’s Conquest
In the first chapter of Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, introduces us to the topic of industrial corm and the Corn’s Conquest origins. It starts off by stating what is seen inside the local supermarkets mainly focusing on many different types of species of produce. There is one specific question that Pollan states that brings the chapter together. The question focuses more on the aspect of where does the food I eat derived from and what exactly is it? The topic “Zea Mays”, was mentioned as a great discovery of Christopher Columbus due to the unexpected corn blow up. Corn became more and
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Pollan gets to the farm to be able to further understand the scene behind the Industrial Corn world. Pollan explains how George Naylor sees the farming industry, which has had an impact on the corporations and government policies. He goes on to explain how the lands of Iowa is becoming less and less good for blowing. As, the result farmers are no longer able to support their families because of the bad harvest. Pollan goes on to explain how corn has become more and more cheap over the time due to over production. Corn has become abundant. The use synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is a contribution to the global warming due to the farming and this also pollutes the water for the …show more content…
Pollan explains the role of Concentrated Animal Feeding operation. He believes that the CAFO is responsible for the subsidized corn which has become abundant. Pollan buys a calf from a ranch and records the cattle throughout the feedlot. He makes an unremarkable discovery about life on a feedlot. He learns how farmers take extreme measures in order to maximize their meat production. The rumen inside the cow allows the natural digestion of grass to turn into necessary proteins that are beneficial to the cowl. Now, this is no longer the case grass was replaced with corn. Corn is much more efficient and provides higher quality of meat. Corn is not the only thing being feed, but as well as supplements, vitamins and synthetic estrogen. Pollan goes on to describe the problems that come with the feeding methods, which affect the cattle. The result of a different diet is the main caused of why cattle have such a short life span. The unnatural diet caused the cattle to get sick and pass the disease to humans who consume the meat. How is this process safe for the