Summary of the Omnivore’s Dilemma

HumanEthologyBulletin,October2007 The Omnivores Dilemma A Natural History of Four Meals ByMichaelPollan PenguinPress,NewYork,NY. 2006,450pp. ISBN1? 59420? 082? 3Hdbk. ,$26. 95 Reviewed by William F. McKibbin and Todd K. Shackelford Florida Atlantic University, Dept. of Psychology, Davie, FL 33314 USA E-mail emailprotected edu, emailprotected edu TheOmnivoresDilemmaisthelatestbookbyMichaelPollan,topperknownforhispreviousbest? sellingwork,TheBotanyofDesire. Here,Pollanhascraftedawell? writtenandenjoyable explorationofhumansrelationshipwithfood.Thebookiswrittenforalayaudience,butis considerablebyall. Pollanbeginsbyfocusingonaseeminglysimplequestion,Whatshouldwehavefordinner? Theanswer,itseems,isnotsosimpleforomnivoreslikeus. Pollanguidesthereaderby examiningthethreemajortypesoffoodproductionanddividesthebookintothesethree areas Industrial(focusingonthe ultramodernfoodindustrysrelianceoncorn), inelegant(focusingon organicfoodproduction,bothbigandsmallscale),andPersonal(focusingonperson ally huntingandgatheringonesfood).Thefirst,Industrial dentofthebookdemonstratesthatnearlyeverythingweconsumein Westernsociety,particularlyinAmerica,isinsomewayderivedfromcorn. Theprocessed foodsthatseemastapleofmodernlivingarederivedlargely(ifnotwholly)fromcorn. Even foodssuchaseggs,chicken,fish,andbeefareessentiallyderivedfromcorncows,chickens, andfisharecoercedtoconsumeafoodthattothemishighlyunnatural. Ifw