The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Book Review: 5 stars are not enough
Summary: 5 Stars
I'd like to give it maybe 10 stars. It's the best written and most intelligent book I've read in a long time. It takes a very complicated subject and makes it simple and interesting, approaching it from many points of view and different directions.Book Review: Fascinating yet frustrating from a near vegan's perspective.
Summary: 4 Stars
THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA answered some questions, like "How did corn become such a staple?" and "Is Whole Foods Organic the best I can do?" Overall, the book went into a little too much detail for me sometimes, and I found myself skipping ahead from hearing again and again about how corn became subsidized to the advantage of Coca-Cola and the meat industry, and to the detriment of the farmer, the cow and eventually the American public. However, much the information was disturbing as well as staggering. Many of the books I've read on vegetarian health and ethics mention that cows are force-fed corn, but don't touch on the problems how the foodstuffs like HFCS came to be. This was fascinating reading and I needed to read it to try to get myself off coke and sweets altogether! I also appreciated him shedding a light on the organic "free range" broiler, which seems to be neither.
What should be the main idea of this book is the rightful villainization of the meat/poultry/fish industry who decided, in their great wisdom (and greed), to feed corn to a grass eating animal, in the process having to feed them all kinds of antibiotics to keep them from dying of malnutrition, all the while fattening them faster than they could by grass alone. In the process they are making America sick and fat, and depleting our oil resources.
Pollan discusses the topics quite vividly and with intelligence, yet in the end, I became frustrated with him, because even after he had bought himself a cow and looked it in the eye he still did not become vegetarian! Even after he had worked on a chicken assembly line, he still decided to eat chicken. Even after he discussed the inefficiency meat production (did he ever talk about the water waste?!) he still eats meat! To my recollection, he never went into much detail on cholesterol's effects on the body (I suppose you'll have to read John McDougall or Dean Ornish for that), which would have given him another reason to change. I guess I took it personally, because he seems to be sensitive and compassionate human being, but he never did quite see things "my way".
I want to end by agreeing with Erik Marcus who recommended I read Peter Singer's book THE WAY WE EAT first before reading THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA. MEAT MARKET by Erik Marcus is also a must read.
Book Review: Did I say repetitive?
Summary: 3 Stars
Overbearing, didactic, repetitive, over-bearing (did I say that already?) and preachy...thats the minus 2 stars for writing.
Also. Clearly accurate and fact based. Could have conveyed his points to his audience with half the words but it as a topic it is still worth reading...just skip every other sentence.
Book Review: A thoroughly enjoyable read
Summary: 5 Stars
I welcomed in summer today by finishing Michael Pollan's wonderful book, "Omnivore's Dilemma". It's a treat from beginning to end. The amount of knowledge, well-researched by the author, is astonishing and it is matched by a seamless narrative. Who would have thought that one could write chapter after chapter about corn, grass and other elements in the food chain and keep it so enlightened? Pollan does just that, much to his credit.
Although the three main sections are listed as "Corn", "Grass" and "The Forest," the author also includes chapters on slaughtering, hunting and gathering (of mushrooms) as subtexts. The joy of reading "Omnivore's Delight" is watching Pollan, hardly a rural kind of guy, try his hand at just about everything. If you've never slit the throat of a chicken or shot a wild boar, he will tell you because of his first-hand experience. While some readers undoubtedly have performed these labors, most have not and he lays his contradictory feelings out on the line for all to see. A less experienced writer would not have been able to keep himself in the picture without getting in his own way, but Pollan manages to relate things in a manner that is always appealing.
"Omnivore's Dilemma" may not be for the faint of heart but it is a great look at where food comes from, how it's processed and how agricultural production differs from large scale to small. Michael Pollan took the time to answer a question that we all ask frequently...."what's for dinner?" I highly recommend his book for its educational approach and warm writing style.
Book Review: A Natural History of
Summary: 4 Stars
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" did a good job in analyzing the American culture of 'eating disorders'. All our habitual tendencies were portrayed using food-chains and food-webs as the natural parameters. Also, enough emphases were shed on both organic and conventional agricultural products. The message (of this book) is so direct that one may not help wondering if we are really what we eat.