Friday, September 14, 2007

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

An interesting subject...where does our food come from? How do we decide what to eat? Will we continue to eat as we do, even after we learn the journey of corn and calfs is fraught with corporate greed, government inefficiency and environmental degradation?

And you thought "Fast Food Nation" would keep you from the McDonald's trough forever. Check out this book and learn about the omnipresent corn monolopy of American agribusiness! It's amazing to learn, and Michael Pollan gives great detail, about the incredible amount of byproducts which are produced from plain ole corn. Corn is everywhere! And, our hapless government continues to subsidize American farmers in a pathetic attempt to keep them in business....all the while doing more and more to force local farmers to close up shop. We have a glut of corn. So much so that we are force feeding corn to our chicken and our cattle, completely tarnsforming the way these animals eat by making it impossible for the cows to follow their natural instincts and graze on grass. Insanity!

This book also looks into the reality of organic foods. How organic is organic? Have the pioneers of organic food companies sold out and gone corporate? Is it kosher to have frozen (read preservative laced) organic tv dinners???? Can you produce organic foods by utilizing industrialized machines and mass-production techniques??

All of this and more can be found in "The Omnivore's Dilemma", including lovely vignettes of the author traveling the route of food from the farm to our tables, even learning how to slaughter home-grown chickens in the name of environmental integrity. I definitely recommend this book. To happy reading!!!