Summary Of Hey Mom What's For Dinner

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“Hey Mom, what’s for dinner?” “Such a simple question with such a complicated answer” quotes Michael Pollan in the opening of the omnivore’s dilemma. Thinking about this simple question with a complicated answer, leads me to thinking about what I had for dinner. Did I live up to today’s ever changing standards of healthy eating? Was what I just ate organic, or local? Or was what I ate just another “food fad”? Pollen opened my eyes into how eating unhealthy can affect us in the long run, and how the question isn’t “what’s for dinner?” The real question is “What Should I have for dinner?” What is the “right” choice? Pollan argues that we have access to all kinds of different foods, we just don’t know what we should have. Is what we are eating organic? Is it just another fad? is it healthy? Do we know what we’re eating at all? …show more content…

The more we are educated about what we are eating, the better food choices we will make, therefore, the healthier we will be. Pollan introduces the 4 food chains to us, industrial, industrial organic, locally grown, and hunter gatherer. Throughout the book, Pollan educates us about these food chains, and references them, Helping us to make the correct choices. For example, the industrial food chain is quick, easy to get access to, and efficient, but is it healthy? When talking about the effects of the industrial food chain, Pollan says, “When food is abundant and cheap, people will eat more of it” (77). This is a direct answer to today’s problem- America’s epidemic of obesity. That doesn’t mean we can’t have Mcdonald’s ever again, Pollan just is telling us we need to be more conscious and educated about what we are eating from each food

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