At long last, I've finished The Omnivore's Dilema. I've written about it a couple of times in comments of other posts so I'll just leave a few thoughts. Quick recap, Pollan traces 4 meals to their origins: Industrial (McDonalds), Industrial Organic (Whole Foods), Pastoral (think Local, "beyond organic") and Foraged. In each section he talks about relevant facts, figures, policies, controversies and his own experience.
I hate to say this book was "eye opening" as that is such a tired cliche but, it opened my eyes to an industry that I don't know much about. The book covers many issues in food and food policy so I think it's fair to say that it made me more aware than it did make me an expert.
Will it change the way I eat/buy? Maybe. I was discouraged but not really surprised to see that it isn't as easy to switch to "organic" or "free range" to achieve altruism. It isn't just the regulations, marketing and desire to buy humanely that makes it difficult. It's my own desire for apples year round, $1.99 boneless, skinless chicken breast and food with a shelf life measured in months, not hours. In short, it would just be too much work and money to go whole hog (oh yeah, that's a pun). Will I try? Yeah, I'll try to be more responsible. I'm better about it with fish and things I perceive to be wild... We'll see!
It is a worthwhile read, even if you skip the foraging section (more personal to the author than the other sections, in my opinion).
I'm on to the Hunger Games, it is going to be a very, very fast read.
I hate to say this book was "eye opening" as that is such a tired cliche but, it opened my eyes to an industry that I don't know much about. The book covers many issues in food and food policy so I think it's fair to say that it made me more aware than it did make me an expert.
Will it change the way I eat/buy? Maybe. I was discouraged but not really surprised to see that it isn't as easy to switch to "organic" or "free range" to achieve altruism. It isn't just the regulations, marketing and desire to buy humanely that makes it difficult. It's my own desire for apples year round, $1.99 boneless, skinless chicken breast and food with a shelf life measured in months, not hours. In short, it would just be too much work and money to go whole hog (oh yeah, that's a pun). Will I try? Yeah, I'll try to be more responsible. I'm better about it with fish and things I perceive to be wild... We'll see!
It is a worthwhile read, even if you skip the foraging section (more personal to the author than the other sections, in my opinion).
I'm on to the Hunger Games, it is going to be a very, very fast read.
I have ordered the book and it is "in" - I will pick it up tomorrow. Sounds interesting!
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