The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

May 31, 2010 Renata rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

Oh my goodness, this was one of the most interesting, best-written books I've ever read. Not best book about food, just best book. So smart. It really made me think about the food I eat and where it comes from. But it was also funny and human. Pollan's voice--as a interested person really trying to find out where his food comes from--is unique and helps navigate through statistics and (gross) anecdotes. ...more

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Dec 06, 2007 Arianna rated it really liked it

I started writing this review 1/10/08, when I was only a few chapters into the book, and I had planned to continue, flesh it out, and then post it. But I never did, and it's been so long now, so I figure I'll just post what I had - and yes, clearly I'm a little bit of a nymphomaniac or something, because yeah. Corn sex apparently had me all worked up.

I have to say, this book certainly won me over with the section entitled "Corn Sex". Until then, I was just kind of puttering along through it, but ...more

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Feb 29, 2008 Martin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009books, favorites

The Omnivore's Dilemma is 2/3rds of an extremely fascinating book. The central conceit of the book -- that author Michael Pollan will eat (and document) four very different meals for himself -- gets pretty lost in the eye-opening reporting about the different food chains we omnivorous humans enjoy.

The first third of the book describes in sad, stark terms the unpleasant, unsustainable, biologically unimaginable processes of industrial food production. Corn and "monoculture" in general get raked The Omnivore's Dilemma is 2/3rds of an extremely fascinating book. The central conceit of the book -- that author Michael Pollan will eat (and document) four very different meals for himself -- gets pretty lost in the eye-opening reporting about the different food chains we omnivorous humans enjoy.

The first third of the book describes in sad, stark terms the unpleasant, unsustainable, biologically unimaginable processes of industrial food production. Corn and "monoculture" in general get raked over the coals pretty successfully in this first third. Supermarkets like Jewel and Safeway and "restaurants" like McDonald's don't come out looking so good. The second third of the book -- and certainly the most interesting -- discuss "organic" food, splitting the organic world into two camps: industrial-organic (typified by Whole Foods), and organic-organic (typified by a family farm called Polyface Farms, located coincidentally about half an hour (I would guess) away from where Greg grew in up the Shenandoah valley of Virginia).

Learning about industrial farming processes was pretty appalling and sad, whereas learning about industrial-organic and organic-organic practices was thought-provoking and fascinating. Both of these sections, however, towered over the final third of the book, wherein Pollan hunts and gathers his final meal for himself -- as a kind of atavistic "back to basics" exploration. Yet, it is at this point in the book when we realize (when I realized) that I was no longer interested in Pollan's personal experiences or travails, but rather craved more reporting on different types of current food chains. Those first two sections positively bulged with startling information and insight -- applicable and pertinent information to how each of us shops and eats today -- while the third sagged with self-indulgence and tedious personal grappling. Pollan's personal and highly emotional soul-searching after shooting a wild pig paled in comparison with his reporting on how industrial organic practices differ from those of a traditional "family farm," like Polyface.

I'm giving this book four stars because I was so riveted by the first 2/3rds. Even more specifically, I can say that the first 333 pages (of 411 total) were wonderful -- this includes the fist chapter of the final section, which discussed evenhandedly the ethics of eating animals. The last 78 pages, however, were eminently skimmable (and I'm not ashamed to say that many of them were, in fact, skimmed by me).

I would argue that the journalistic (some might say political) parts of this book ought to be read by everybody. One of the chief strengths (of the first 333pgs) of the book is the lack of obnoxiously political rhetoric. While Pollan certainly has a point of view and doesn't need to hide it, he also presents the issues with a degree of restraint; this isn't a book version of a gross-sign-waving militant vegetarian protest. Yet it is important to know -- as Pollan notes again and again -- where the food you eat comes from -- how it is created, biologically, economically, politically. The personal, navel-gazing stuff you can skip. The rest (the majority), though, feels both timely and important. ...more

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Jan 06, 2009 Carolyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

Definitely gets you thinking about what you eat and how it's grown and its affect on the environment. I want to challenge myself to eat only locally grown food for one month this year. ...more

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Mar 23, 2009 Ruth rated it it was ok

OK, Michael Pollan has a point about how we (should) eat. But I found this book boring from the beginning to the middle and smugly self-satisfied from the middle to the end. It also makes some jarringly incorrect claims, including the claim that the lack of a food culture in America causes eating disorders (p. 301), and the claim that science has 'discovered' that animals have language (p. 306). Not cool. ...more

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Mar 05, 2010 Eunice rated it really liked it

I'm a bit late in reading this, but I finally did. I think since this book has been published, there has been a lot of media surrounding the food industry, so much of the information was no longer a big surprise to me. However, it's still a great book with great info. A must read for anyone who eats. ...more

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Mar 26, 2008 Rae rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: food-issues

Pollan examines all aspects of eating including fast food, industrial production, organic farming, grass-fed animals and vegetarianism. I enjoyed this immensely and learned a great deal from Pollan. Much "food" for thought! Recommended. ...more

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