The Omnivore's Dilemma Summary

In the Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan talks about 4 different models that we consume, purchase, and add it to our daily lives. Michael Pollan travels to different locations around the United States, where he mentions his models which are fast food, industrial organic, beyond organic, and hunting. I believe that the 3 important models that we need to feed the population are fast food, industrial organic, and beyond organic. Fast food is one of the most important models in this society because people nowadays, eat fast food everyday and it is hurting us in the long run. We need to stick to beyond organic or industrial organic food because it is good for our well being. Ever since the government and corporations took over on what we eat, we have lost our culture. In the introduction of the Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan states that we have lost our culture:

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself: am I really eating healthy? Recently, I’ve come to the realization of what I’m eating on a daily basis isn’t entirely healthy for me. Michael Pollan, who is author of the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, has opened my mind. While reading the first couple of chapters of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I’ve realized that I don’t know much about the food that I am eating. For example, I didn’t know that farmers not only feed their animals, corn but they also feed them antibiotics (Walsh 34). In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan makes a strange statement, “You are what what you eat eats, too” (Pollan 84). Pollan continuously emphasizes this remark through various examples, and he’s right because strangely enough the food

Did you know that today, 2.1 billion people – nearly 30% of the world's population – are either obese or overweight because they ate unhealthy food and didn’t exercise? After reading the Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, I have learned about all the opportunities right here in Rochester that have to do with eating more local food. We should eat more local food because it is healthier for us and it helps the environment.

Michael Pollan’s essay “Escape from the Western Diet”, excerpted from Pollan’s book “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” (1 Jan 2008).

We humans have an insatiable need for food. Whether we are hungry or not we still find a way to eat, whether it is that ice cream that you had after you were “stuffed”, or that soda, that you just found some room to fit into the remaining nooks and crannies?. As the world is getting richer, this need for food has led to a massive increase in the amount of meat eaten by the average person. The USDA found that American eats fifty-seven pounds more meat than they did in the 1950’s. In addition, the meat market has quadrupled since 1961 from 70 million tons, to 300 million in 2013.

We have all heard the phrase “you are what you eat” at some point in our lives. Most of us simply brush it off, regarding it as just another tactic our mothers use to get us to try new things. This phrase has been used time and time again and it turns out, Mom was right, the food we eat does affect who we are in many ways. This theme of identifying ourselves with the food we consume is portrayed in both the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and the documentary Supersize Me, directed by Morgan Spurlock. In the article “Mom Was Right: You Are What You Eat.,” David Katz states:

The Omnivore’s Dilemma addresses what food is “good” for us and why. There are many foods that we can eat, but to figure out what is healthy and obtained naturally is difficult. The author, Michael Pollan, goes on multiple trips to find food that was made without any unnecessary chemicals. Many vegetables grown by large companies have countless chemicals sprayed on them. These chemicals can be poisonous to humans, but the companies leave it out long enough for the chemical concentration to lessen. Industrial companies also have feedlots for the animals. Feedlots are enclosed buildings where animals are kept in one spot for all of their lives. They are treated unfairly and the industry will not let you go into the slaughterhouses, unlike other

After reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, the big organic farm impresses me a lot, which shows me ugliness in commercial trading. When I am reading this book, I realize the industrial organic food is not real nature organic food. Corporations and governments start to use some vague division to define the organic food so that they can acquire more benefits from the public. Pollan intends to make people to be aware of what they are eating, and this is such an essential point for everyone currently. Actually, I do not usually buy the organic food because I think my body can handle the bacterium; therefore, I will not change any habits because of the reading. I notice that the truth we know is not always the real truth, and human

While reading the book The Omnivore Dilemma I was captivated when Pollan was discussing “Big Organic” Stores. In the book Pollan discusses the effect of delocalization in local communities, famers markets, and organic stores. Pollan revels to the reader that the growing appeal of organic food has grown with the language of organic, locally grown, free-range, cage-free, and grass-feed. Although this language suggests one thing it is not as it appears to be (Pollan, 2006). An example Pollan discusses the overcomplication of labeling milk as organic, and ultra-pasteurized. Pollan states that ultra-pasteurized milk is less fresh and less organic than regular milk because it has been pasteurized multiple times. (Pollan, 2016).

Wendell Berry, prolific writer about the degradation of the land, uses “The Pleasures of Eating” to discuss what “eating responsibly” means. Berry opens her article with the proposition that “eating is an agricultural act” (Berry 64), and quickly uses the declaration to discuss the “industrial eater,” someone who “no longer knows or imagines the connections between eating and the land, and who is therefore necessarily passive and uncritical” (Berry 65). Such people, Berry contends, cannot fathom the full scope of pleasure while eating. “Eat[ing] responsibly is to live free,” Berry argues. To “escape” the trap of being an industrial eater, Berry claims that one must do so voluntarily, “by restoring one’s consciousness of what is involved in

Environmental advocate and cofounder of Eatingliberally.org, Kerry Trueman, in her response to Stephen Budiansky’s Math Lessons for Locavores, titled, The Myth of the Rabid Locavore, originally published in the Huffington Post, addresses the topic of different ways of purchasing food and its impact on the world. In her response, she argues that Budiansky portrayal of the Local Food Movement is very inaccurate and that individuals should be more environmentally conscious. Trueman supports her claim first by using strong diction towards different aspects of Budinsky essay, second by emphasizes the extent to which his reasoning falls flat, and lastly by explaining her own point with the use of proper timing. More specifically, she criticizes many

Brian Wansink’s work demonstrates what little control we have over our own decisions with food, and he has devised a number of experiments to demonstrate this. His work is extremely entertaining, and I imagine this is because many of us are so impressed with how simple it is to be confused by food. He is consistently questioning how the environment influences the choices we make, and how our environments have resulted in consistent over consumption. He implements some of the same strategies that the food industry uses in an effort to expose just how successful they are.

Food, Inc. shows how large, national corporations are able to produce our food and the lengths they will go to in order to shield us from their shady business practices. Companies such as Monsanto, Tyson, and others basically have control over government agencies (USDA, FDA) meant to keep them in check by paying them off. Some executives from these corporations are able to land important positions in these agencies. This documentary also shows the consequences of these horrific business practices. In 2001, a woman lost her son to a severe E.coli infection caused by a tainted hamburger. This disease can be found in raw meat, spinach and even in apple juice. It has also been involved in several food recalls over the years. A bill known as Kevin’s

-- Margaret Mead, American anthropologist and Past Executive Secretary on the National Research Council’s Committee on Food Habits