The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (2007, Paperback, Reprint)

I disagree with Erik Marcus' review that claims this book merely tries to make the "case for eating animal products." This is a distinctly limited understanding of the book from someone who seems to only be interested in understanding the book with the socio-political lens provided by vegetarianism. In reality, The Omnivore's Dilemma is so much more than just a case for eating animal products--as the author puts it on the last page, "imagine for a moment if we once again knew . . . these few unremarkable things: What it is we're eating. Where it came from. How it found its way to our table. And what, in a true accounting, it really cost" (p. 411). THIS is the real essence of the book, and it's a series of questions that resonates strongly with me and I think should be important to pretty much anyone who eats food.

Throughout his book, Pollan traces the history of four meals: 1) a fast food meal produced by "conventional" industrial agriculture (most of which is derived from dirt-cheap corn products--so many that it seems almost every processed food comes from corn and the oil it takes to grow it--and factory farmed meat), 2) Industrial organic agriculture (improved farming practices based on the USDA's standards that still operates on a national and sometimes global scale), 3) "Beyond organic" agriculture, which fuses strict organic ideals with an emphasis on eating locally and seasonally (i.e. no bananas in Alaska in January), and 4) Hunting and gathering locally.

The result is a book that is as compelling as it is timely--Pollan's study of industrial agriculture (organic included) raises some important health, environmental, and ethical issues and exposes the dark truths about where conventional food comes from (essentially oil, which makes fertilizer used on corn, which makes up processed food and feeds inhumanely-kept animals [not meant to eat corn] which we eat). The organic section of the book also raises awareness about the pretty alarming and unnatural practice of shipping food all over the world when it can easily be grown locally.

In sum, Pollan's book isn't a direct polemic. Rather, it's more an encouragement to think about those questions (which a lot of people can't answer--"where DID this food come from??") and perhaps decide on your own that perhaps food is something that is worth the extra money and effort it takes to ensure that it it is healthy for you, and humane and sustainable for the animals and environment that produces it. There's so much useful and interesting information in this book I can't begin to scratch the surface in a review--I highly recommend you read it and hope you find it as meaningful and relevant as it's intended to be.