Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: The Omnivore's Dilemma

The Omnivore's Dilemma:a natural history of four meals by Michael Pollan 2006

Buying food is becoming more and more complicated. We are bombarded with terms such as monoculture, range-fed, organic, genetically modified. In his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma: a natural history of four meals, Michael Pollan examines the different paths our food takes to our plate. He traces the ecological footprint that it leaves, its chemical content and effects on our bodies, and the quality of life of the animals that end up on our dinner plate. In his research, he spends time at a factory farm, a monoculture corn farm, a large organic producer and a self-sustaining farm. He takes part as much as possible, or as much as he is allowed in the process of producing the food. He even goes out on a boar hunt and forages for edible mushrooms. It is very interesting reading that helps us make choices about what we put in our mouths.


Incidentally, there is also a young people's edition of this book which was published in 2009: The Ominvore's Dilemma: secrets behind what you eat

(Did you catch Michael Pollan on Oprah last week? He has some fabulous "rules" for what to eat, including my favourite: Eat food that your great-grandmother would recognize as food. Sound advice! I have to wonder what my great-grandmother would make of a cheezie? )