Book Review: Omnivore's Dilemma

I'm glad that Omnivore's Dilemma:  A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan finally made its way off my reading list.  This compelling work prompts significant reflection about where our food comes from and broader questions around the meaning of food in human culture.

The works is structured around four meals with very different origins.  The first is a McDonald's Chicken McNugget meal eaten in a car, that leads to inquiry into corn and meat produced on an industrial scale.  His second meal, an organic frozen meal purchased at Whole Foods, questions the benefits of what he calls "industrial organic" food.  The third meal revolves around chickens produced on an innovative Virginia farm that is a powerful model for sustainable farming.  Pollan's final meal in the book is one he produces entirely on his own, through hunting, foraging and gardening.  I'd have to say that one produced the most entertaining stories, particularly involving his colorful Italian hunting guide.

The book includes interesting facts about the industrial production of food that is inarguably very productive.  For instance, since 1920 Iowa corn farmers have gone from producing 20 bushels of corn per acre to 180.  Yet despite this productivity, Iowa today needs to import 80% of its food.  We also learn from Pollan the many ways petroleum factors into the production of food-not just the transportation costs, which are significant, but also the petroleum basis for much of the fertilizer and other products deployed by today's farmers.  Reading this, I certainly had a better understanding of the link between rising fuel costs and the prices we see at the grocery store.

Pollan is clearly very passionate about the meaning of food on many levels from sustenance to forging our cultural identity.  Yet while this passion for food has Pollan leaning toward the more sustainable methods of food production he write about, he takes a realistic view of things.  He presents his four meals as cases to explore a variety of concepts, but fully realizes we aren't all going to suddenly revert back to our hunting and gathering days or spend hours each day driving out to sustainable grass farms. 

The underlying message he seems to try to convey is that we need to be more thoughtful about the food we eat and where it comes from; assuming that this increased consciousness will lead to healthier and more sustainable choices.  I'd say he makes his point in a compelling and entertaining fashion.