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The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael Pollan
Publisher: Penguin
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $9.35
You Save: $6.65 (42%)
New (86) Used (61) Collectible (1) from $7.75
Rating:  472 reviews
Sales Rank: 87
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0143038583
Dewey Decimal Number: 394.12
EAN: 9780143038580
ASIN: 0143038583
Publication Date: August 28, 2007
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Product Description
A national bestseller that has changed the way readers view the ecology of eating, this revolutionary book by award winner Michael Pollan asks the seemingly simple question: What should we have for dinner? Tracing from source to table each of the food chains that sustain us whether industrial or organic, alternative or processedhe develops a portrait of the American way of eating. The result is a sweeping, surprising exploration of the hungers that have shaped our evolution, and of the profound implications our food choices have for the health of our species and the future of our planet.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 467 more reviews...
 It Is A Dilemma December 5, 2008
I enjoyed another book by Pollan and also enjoyed this book, inasmuch that the subject matter can be "enjoyed." It is a distrubing look at the food industry and what is happening to us and our food sources.
Of course some of the examples are not all encompassing and many places may not operate as described, yet there is enough information contained in this book (and news reports that we see and hear about otherwise) that yes these issues exist - the abuse of farmland and the animals that we eat.
I am not sure if the government will ever take the proper action to regulate the food industry and try to improve our food sources nor do I expect people to become vegatarians because of reading this. But if there can be overall improvements based on thinking about these issues, then the dilemma is a worthwhile presentation.
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals December 2, 2008
It will change the way you think about food. I will never look at a can of corn the same way.
 Omnivore's Dilema-Moral Confusion November 30, 2008
I found Michael Pollan's book to be quite informative and interesting. The strength of the book was the detailing of much of the modern food chain and our dependence on but a very few staple items, namely corn and soy, to supply a very high percentage of our caloric needs. The percentage of our total caloric needs ultimately supplied by corn is quite amazing. There are many interesting facts that should make readers much more interested in a more varied diet, and making sure the food they eat is as nutritional as it should be. The weakness of the book was in Pollan's assertion that "humans invented morality", but he was in moral turmoil over the morality of killing/eating meat. If you honestly believe that matter plus time pus chance = you, it's hard to see how this turmoil emerges. Only if morality is not invented, but objective, does the issue of how we treat animals have any moral force. The author appears to reject this underlying true objective morality all the while wringing his hands over what he ought to eat, and how we treat the animals we raise conforms to a true objective morality. He obviously doesn't believe that "humans invented morality". I guess that's just the moral ambiguity you need to get on the New York Times Books of the year list. We should obviously be as kind as possible to the animals under our care, and we should, as Pollan asserts, make our food chain as transparent as possible, which would affect a positive change in that direction. The first step in trying to figure out what we should do is trying to figure out if there is anything we should do. There obviously is-but the author cannot get you there.
not so much what we eat, but WHO WE ARE November 27, 2008
Like any really great natural history, The Omnivore's Dilemma is not so much about what we eat, but who we are. The book has three main sections - highly-processed (corn-driven) food, local/organic food and self-caught food.
The first part on processed food is a thoughtful expose of how culturally removed we've become from the vast majority of the food we consume - removed from its irresponsible calorie content, desensitized to the lives of the animals we consume, and out of touch with its underlying often senseless economics. Like with Morgan Spurlock's "Supersize Me", your perspective on McDonald's will be forever changed.
The second part of local/organic food is more uplifting. Pollan shows the difficult, but also bright future, for organic and local eating. The lesson seems to be if government got out of the way of small producers, they could blossom and grow more significantly.
The third part - hunting and foraging for one's own food - is a wonderful look at the joys and moral conflict of catching one's own food, from the perspective of doing it for the first time. Pollan's reflections on the grace of nature's bounty are thoughtful and grateful.
The author concludes with a short meditation on what's he's discovered researching how we eat. The ending seemed terse, with much left unsaid, but is still satisfying.
I listened to The Omnivore's Dilemma unabridged on audio CD narrated by Scott Brick. Brick gives a fine performance, confident but questioning, appropriately humble for the author's ambitious search and thoughtful reflections.
I especially recommend this book to anyone in the food and beverage industry.
 Purchased but not available November 24, 2008
0 out of 7 found this review helpful
I was disappointed that the book was offered for purchase, but several days later, I was informed that I would reeive a refund because it was not available from the vendor. No offer was made to suggest the book from an alternate source. I had always assumed that if a book was listed, it would be available, and that the listing would be removed when there were no more to be sold.
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