The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

Do not, repeat, do not believe the majority of reviews about this book. I should've known better as I first read "Botany of Desire", and gave a review. I thought that book was interminable, and this is even worse. Don't get me wrong there is some information within the pages, however, it goes on and on, almost without end. I persisted till I was almost, but not quite finished, and just could no longer bear the boredom. I persevered through "The Corn", barely got through "The Grasses", and almost made it through "The Forest", but the story on Fungi got the best of me, and "The Perfect Meal" did me in. I actually put the book down and stated aloud, "enough - I can't take it anymore". Life is too short, and time too valuable to waste it on this tripe.

A very engaging look at the food industry. Mainly answers the questions: "What it is we're eating? Where it came from? How it found its way to our table?" But: "What should you eat?" is in the end left to you and a zillion diet books. How about just fish and vegetables? That apparently is what some Japanese mountaineers in their seventies are eating in preparation for an attempt to become the oldest people to summit Mt. Everest.

I have been reading a lot about food and nutrition and was really fastinated with the information in this book. It is a fun read but I was kind of worried that it might be sort of one-sided politically (many on the subject seem a bit one-sided and you wonder if you are getting the full story). The book seems refreshingly objective and dispassionate to me as far as the imformation about food, etc. It was made more interesting by Michael explaining his own person journey of discovery and his thoughts, feelings and self-examinations along the way. Get your older kids to read this book and they will never look at a McDonald's meal the same way again!

This book puts a light on how we grow our food and where our food comes from. Its highlights the dangers of eating some foods that we would normally eat everyday. I absolutely loved this book, I'm sure if you are interested in going organic this is a must read!

"Omnivore's Dilemma" takes the title from the concept that eating can be risky -- is that a good mushroom or will it make me sick? You have to take chances to learn about food, or find some other way to test it. Pollan follows the most common food ingredients through the chain and, ultimately, I think that what he has uncovered is that the Standard American Diet is making us sick.

This isn't exactly news -- Pollan's story and the way he illustrates the food chain, processing and consumption patterns is engaging and moves along at a great pace. It feels more like a description of a personal journey which I think would make this very appealing to a lot of people. It's not very didactic, and there are some funny parts in there. The chapters on hunting and mushroom hunting gave me some giggles.

Bottom line - don't eat processed food, support local farmers, even if they aren't necessarily organic (ask about "pesticide free" produce) and stop eating things that aren't food.