The Omnivore's Dilemma

I can't remember reading a book that told me more stuff that I didn't know before, and in such an engaging manner. I don't read a lot of books about agriculture or nutrition, so of course I have a lot to learn, but this book, by Michael Pollan, was never didactic or hard to follow for the non-scientist. It appeals to every reader, because every reader eats food.

Pollan tackles a big subject--what we eat, and why we eat it. He does this by dividing the book into three parts, each a sort of natural history of three different meals, tracing the foodstuff from its origins to the inside of his stomach. Pollan's journalism here is participatory--he's a major character in his own book, and in some of the sections it has that kind of fun attitude of George Plimpton.

What is the omnivore's dilemma? Because as humans we eat so many different things, deciding what to eat, or what not to eat, becomes a problem. This is not a problem for say, a koala bear, that eats nothing but eucalyptus leaves, and thus spends zero time thinking about his next meal. Humans, on the other hand, can go crazy with the dilemma. Pollan kicks this off discussing how bread, a staple of man's diet for millennia, became suddenly verboten after one article the The New York Times Magazine.

The first section is devoted to corn, which I was shocked to find is an ingredient in almost everything we buy in the supermarket, whether it's processed foods, soda, or by way of degree, in the meat we eat. Pollan visits a corn farmer in Iowa, who grows a type of corn that humans don't eat, but is instead used for other things, among them feeding cattle. Pollan goes on to in-depth study of the sorry world of industrial farming, with the overuse of fertilizer (which creates pollution) to the sorry treatment of cattle (who lead short, unhappy lives) and are force-fed corn, even though grass-fed cattle are better tasting and better for the cow and us (it just isn't good business to feed them grass, I guess). I learned about a fellow named Fritz Haber, who some think made the most important scientific discovery of the twentieth century--how to separate nitrogen from the nitrogen atom, thus being able to create nitrogen-based fertilizer, which has enabled mankind to feed its burgeoning population. Haber also invented Zyklon B.

The second section explores organic farming. Pollan makes some digs at Whole Foods, suggesting the definition of "organic" is elastic enough to mislead consumers. He then puts in a week's work at an organic farm in Virginia, where the farmer is a conservative Christian environmentalist, who uses no pesticides or other additives, and has a model of natural efficiency. Pollan works his aching muscles and learns about this alternative form of agriculture, where people who have "opted out" of agribusiness produce healthier, better tasting, and yes more expensive food.

Finally, Pollan aims to make a meal that he has grown, foraged and hunted for himself. The Plimpton angles kicks in while he describes hunting for wild pig, as the man has never shot a gun before. There is also an excellent chapter on the ethics of vegetarianism, covering the subject from every angle. I also learned more about mushrooms than I could have ever thought possible. It turns out there's a whole community of mycophiles that guard great mushroom-foraging sites as if they were state secrets.

This book will make you reconsider what you eat, but it is not like Fast Food Nation--it doesn't condemn anyone's eating habits (although it is pretty hard on huge conglomerates that are shoveling corn into our mouths). It's very funny in spots, and Pollan comes across as a guy you would want to know, or at least have him cook a meal for you.