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The Omnivores Dilemma Summary

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In the book The Omnivores Dilemma, by Michael Pollan he brings us on his journey with him through analyzing the model of “four meals” and how our thinking habits have changed the way we choose to eat and go about eating throughout the years and the role our society and the different expectations put on individuals has effected their thoughts and relationship to food. Each section and chapter of the book is broken up into different fads, opinions and findings that Pollan has found along his journey. Throughout the book his pre determined notions and thoughts around our society with food is challenged but also is backed up by different healthful and food activists like himself and how like minded people can differer in opinions and thoughts on how our society has changed involving …show more content…

Corn is present in every single meal we eat, hidden or blatantly stated we are always eating corn. Farms and other corn processing factories have had a major impact on the agricultural system we see now today. Pollan critiques how corn has taken over a lot of the agricultural system and how overproduced it is because of how much big corporations and grain exporters benefit from producing corn. Throughout this first chapter he states that if, “we could see what lies on the far side of the increasingly high walls of our industrial agriculture, we would surely change the way we eat” (Pollan 11) Pollan has strong feelings on how corn has changed the way we eat and also how this effects the connections we make at a dinner table and how setting and our environmental factors can really effect how we view and eat the food we do. Pollan discusses how corn impacts America. He continues on to talk about McDonalds and how corn, whether that be corn syrup or corn oil and how this has affected the growing rate of obesity in the

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The three essays assigned this week had several common threads running through them. The strongest core theme is the rapid change in the food cycle in America and the vast changes that have taken place in the way by which we grow, produce, and process the food that average Americans eat. The food we eat now is drastically different from what our grandparents grew up eating and the three essays each examine that in a different way. Another theme is the loss of knowledge by the average consumer about where their food comes from, what it is composed of, and what, if any, danger it might pose to them. “Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear” by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele is a harsh look at the realities of food production in a country where large corporations, like Monsanto, have been allowed to exploit laws and loopholes to bend farmers and consumers to their

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He continues the rest of the chapter talking about how most foods have traces of corn in them, by following the industrial food chain. All foods by the FDA must have their ingredients posted on the wrapper, so buyers know exactly what they are eating. Michael Pollan knows he has to look at the wrapper and see where all those ingredients are from to really see where the food he is about to came from. 2. Pollan describes American farmers today as “the

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The Omnivore’s Dilemma is a non-fiction book that discusses the relationship between the food and our daily life. Michael Pollan, the author of this book, points out the advantages and disadvantages of subsidy on corn. Given the corn is one of the major crops in our daily life, there are lots of corn’s by-products in the supermarket, even the nonfood items. Some people believe corn is a miracle crop because they are impressed by the wide-ranged of corn products; On the other hand, some people think the expansion of corn industry leads to social, environmental, and economic problems. In Pollan’s view, he questions about the outcomes of the subsidy and believes it creates different negative problems to the society.

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Section one is Pollan going on to talk about corn, its origin, including the world of processing. In this he talks about how food we eat somehow, comes from corn. Pollan uses a play on words to, use contradicting statements, along with blunt indirect comments towards people. Pollan tries to refer to the Americans who are continually gaining weight without directly calling them out specifically. On page 102 Pollan is criticizing them when saying:

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The procedure of how food is made does not come into concern, only the results do. That is how large industrial farms are accepted, because they provide proficiently. The outcome of industrial farms outweighs the negative impacts, at least to industrial farmers. Pollan responds to Berry’s statement by agreeing with him on the issue of the current industrial model being acceptable to some consumers, only due to the fact that

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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?

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Michael Pollan’s Escape from the Western Diet connects well with what Mary Maxfield says in her article. Both Pollan and Maxfield talk about the ways that dieting is taking over American people’s healths and causing them to become even unhealthier. In Mary Maxfield’s argument she talks about how people believe everything that diet industries say, even though they know that the information they give you is false. This connects really well with what Michael Pollan talks about in his article, which is that people know that these theories that are used for the Western diet are not accurate, but yet they still decide to use the Western diet to help them become healthier.

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In Michael Pollan’s essay “Escape from the Western Diet,” he directly to Americans about the western diet and why he believes they need to escape from it. The reason Americans should escape the western diet is to avoid the harmful effects associated with it such as “western diseases” (Pollan, 420). To support his view on the issue, Pollan describes factors of the western diet that dictate what Americans believe they should eat. These factors include scientists with their theories of nutritionist, the food industry supporting the theories by making products, and the health industry making medication to support those same theories. Overall, Pollan feels that in order to escape this diet, people need to get the idea of it out of their heads.

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In the book, The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, Pollan claims we should be more knowledgeable about what we consume as omnivores. As omnivores we have a variety of food, we can choose from, however, we don’t regularly make the best decisions for ourselves. Pollan argues this by showing us where our food really comes from and how we can find many unwanted extras. Pollan shows us that we’ve evolved as humans from how we used to eat to how we eat now. Pollan argues this by introducing us to all the food chains we value today, some much more than others.

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As Patel himself states, we need to get inside the hourglass and make the food system work for all of us, as farmers, producers, distributers, and consumers as a whole. Regardless of the confusion a first time reader may run across, this book does one thing undoubtedly right: it makes you think long and hard about everything you thought you knew about food. It goes far past GMOs and RoundUp, way beyond HFCS and the overproduction of soybeans, over and above those who are stuffed and those who are starved. Throughout the span of the novel, Patel not only helps you realize that there are many issues in our food economy, but also makes you feel how vital it is to take back what we did not even realize had long been

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Junk food is responsible for the growing rate of obesity. This is outlined by David freedman in his article of “How junk food can end obesity.” David Freedman has credited the “health-food” motion, and followers of it along with Michel Pollan. Freedman claims that if the America desires to stop the obesity epidemic, or at least reduce its effects, they must shift to the fast meals and processed meals enterprise for assist, now not the “health-food” movement.

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In Michael Pollan’s letter to the future president, “Farmer in Chief”, he addresses the rising issue of food in the United States. A large fraction of our health consists of the food we eat, therefore it is important to ensure that food is abundant and derives from healthy sources. During the previous years, presidents have made an effort to ensure that the environment and economy is functioning properly. However, many presidents fail to acknowledge that the main issue to a poorly functioning society is food. Therefore, the main argument of Pollan’s letter addresses the impact that food as on society as a whole.

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Another issue Freedman talks about is Pollan’s opinions on the rise of obesity. Pollan is critical of food processing and says it is “a source of society’s health problems” (140) and states the major factors causing obesity is due to the amounts of sugar, salt, and fat that is placed into foods. Pollan believes that one can resolve this problem by swapping these foods “… through public education and regulation -with fresh, unprocessed, local season real foods” (140).

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Pollan illustrated human manipulation in the chapter of apples and how it has transformed the modern apple into require more pesticide than any other food crop. The tulip was an influencing factor in human behavior by tulipmania capturing the beauty that attracted the Dutch. Cannabis plants made humans desire intoxication to alter the way the brain operates. Lastly, the potato has contributed to the ongoing GMO debate due to biotechnology changing our relationship with nature. Pollan’s book was well-written, and influenced the way I view plants

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Throughout American history, it is seen that agriculture is something heavily valued, and yet the current view of agriculture is negative, and this change is all an impact of the media and technology that is available at the fingertips of the American people. Bailey Hoerbert completed a study in 2020 about how agriculture is portrayed and affected by the media. Hoerbert states, ¨Studies have shown that Americans tend to fear food production and production agriculture. This fear stems from not understanding what farmers are doing and why they are doing it¨ (Hoerbert, 2020, para. 1). This clearly demonstrates the issue that agriculture is facing caused by the modern media portraying agriculture in a negative manner, and also it stems from not having the coverage that is deserved.

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