The Omnivore's Dilemma is a very interesting book which looks at the obesity epidemic in America through the lens of the "Omnivore's Dilemma," which is the problem of omnivore's deciding which foods to eat; foods that could be poisonous or unhealthy must be avoided, and those that are healthy should be eaten. The author, Michael Pollan, dissects this issue by tracing the history of four meals, a fast food dinner, an organic store-bought meal, an organic meal bought directly from the farm, and a meal composed entirely of foods that the author hunted and gathered himself.The book goes deep into all aspects of food and how it is grown, processed, shipped, and eaten. It is extremely enlightening and changes the way one thinks about the meal they are eating. One of the most interesting parts of the book is when Pollan becomes a "temporary vegetarian" until he can justify meat eating. He discusses vegetarianism with influential vegetarians and eventually comes to the conclusion that vegetarianism may be good for individual animals, but for entire species, it would be very harmful if humans stopped eating meat.
Overall the book is a fantastic read, and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject. It opens the readers eyes to the inner workings of the food industry.
-Napoleon Bonaparte
This book sounds very interesting! Awesome Review, I'd love to read it.
ReplyDeleteMary Queen of Scots
How could it be harmful for humans to stop eating meat?
ReplyDelete~Timothy Leary
Based on how you wrote this review, I think I would get tired of the obvious being thrown at me..."unhealthy [foods] must be avoided", however I have heard many good things about this title.
ReplyDelete~Vladimir Lenin
This sounds like a very interesting book. Did Pollan ever specify what exactly would happen if all humans stopped eating meat?
ReplyDelete-Anastasia Romanov
I have also heard good things about this title, but i'm not sure i would like to hear about some of the unhealthy on-goings in the food industry...
ReplyDelete~Morgan Freeman
This seems like a really interesting book. I'm curious about his explanation with how not eating meat could be harmful to some animal species, especially since I've been avoiding eating meat with the specific intent to prevent harm to animals.
ReplyDelete~Mohammed
Interesting! I thought that avoiding meat could potentially be good for our health, did the author specify why it could be hurtful?
ReplyDeleteMissy Elliot
Does vegetarianism harm India?
ReplyDeletePollan followed up this book with In Defense of Food, in which he writes basically that people should eat more plants.
I liked this book, but I did struggle with the way in which Pollan was able to indulge his study of food because he had the luxury of choice. Most people in the world just want to eat every day and not be afraid of hunger.
But it does have a very important message. Since we do have the luxury of choice, we should do our best to make the right choices, and we need more information about the true environmental and and health "costs" of food.
Good work.
Mrs. McCabe