...Isabelle Gaylor Mrs. Vermillion AP 11 English 02 November 2015 The Omnivore’s Dilemma Summary The Omnivore’s Dilemma was written by Michael Pollan, a journalist, who had no prior knowledge of where his food came from and how it was made. This book goes through each step and learning process Pollan went through on his journey of “food enlightenment”. In the first chapter, Pollan brings up a very true and slightly terrifying point almost right away. Everything we eat has something to do with corn. Chips made from corn flour, beef from corn fed steers, and even sodas are made sugary with corn syrup. There is virtually no escape from the circle of corn that makes up our diets. Corn is also made into fertilizer both by being mashed into the ground by wandering cattle and through the feces of chickens, cows, etc… In the third chapter, Pollan explores the heart of the industrial food chain. Bombs from World War II hold a large amount of ammonium nitrate. Ammonium nitrate also happens to be a great supplier of nitrogen which is used to grow plants. Although Hybrid corns eat up a lot of nitrogen, it is still way more than they can take. The excess nitrogen seeps into the ground and eventually becomes run-off, that causes major nitrogen pollution....
Words: 511 - Pages: 3
...Book Review of Omnivore’s Dilemma ENGL135 Advanced Composition DeVry University Book Review of Omnivore’s Dilemma The Omnivore’s Dilemma written by Michael Pollan has been written with an aim to address the confusion of every omnivore, or human being to address the need to decide what should be consumed when nature has such a huge variety and bounty to offer. The book starts with a fairly simple question aimed to make us think deeper about our evolved lifestyles and gastronomic tastes. The author asks his readers to answer a fairly simple question, which is “what should we have for dinner?” and goes on to show how complicated the answer can be. The book is divided into three sections: - Industrial/Corn, Pastoral/Grass. Personal/The Forest, each of which brings out interesting sights and happenings in the food chain. The first section which is the Industrial/Corn section describes how corn is the most important ingredient in the industrial food chain, while the second section on Pastoral/Grass section talks about organic farming. The final section on Personal/The Forest finds the author describing how to make a meal out of whatever he could hunt, grown or gathered by him only. This article presents a book review on the first section only. Michael Pollan shows us how difficult it is actually to choose what we eat given that nature has such a wide variety of bounty to offer. Yet if the American industry is scrutinized deeply, one basic ingredient seems to be the magical...
Words: 594 - Pages: 3
...eat, as outlined by Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Feedlot steers do not eat grass, like they should. They eat corn and lots of it. Along with corn, steers eat “gallons of liquid fat and protein supplements” (Pollan, 74). Additional to all the extra ingredients, there is a shed supplied with “liquid vitamins and synthetic estrogen besides pallets stacked with fifty-pound sacks of antibiotics” (74). All of these ingredients are mixed together and feed to the steers to gain large amounts of weight in a short amount of months to be sent off to the butcher. These steers are not well taken care of and the owners are trying to make the most out of their money...
Words: 588 - Pages: 3
...Book Review: The Omnivore’s Dilemma Candace Casillo Devry University Professor Johnson 11/09/2012 In part one, Chapters one, two, and three of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan takes an in depth look of the history and sources of corn, a family farm in Iowa, and the economic pressures that influence farming and food policies. Part one showcases a captivating enlightening history with many descriptive qualities. Chapters one, two, and three are a perfect start to The Omnivore’s Dilemma, in that they set up the re-occurring theme in the book: the conflict between the way farming should be done, and how economic survival dictates how it is typically done. However, this book might not be as appealing to others as it was to me. The first chapter is a about a particular piece of produce that is all around us: corn. Pollan reveals that on the forty-five thousand items in a supermarket, more than a quarter of them now contain corn in their ingredients. Through some historical analysis of how corn was first used by the Mayans, Pollan explains why corn is such a commanding crop and how its use was transferred to the surrounding colonists. In chapter two, Pollan shares his experience on a family corn farm in Iowa and how corn has changed farming and the landscape in the area. Chapter three is about the grain elevator and how this lowers the value of this particular vegetable, which was once highly praised by the Mayans. Next, we learn that large companies such as Cargill...
Words: 582 - Pages: 3
...In the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the author Michael Pollan talks about fast food in the chapter “The Meal: Fast Food.” Pollan not only talks about fast food, but, dissects what is actually inside of fast food by seeing how much corn is in the food and how it leads into obesity, Type II diabetes, and heart disease. However, before we can analyze what the chapter is saying about fast food we need to examine the author as well. Is he creditable? Are his sources creditable? Is this another person on a soapbox telling us how unhealthy fast food is for us? Is he understandable to the average reader? These are the types of questions that need to be asked when reading this chapter. Looking at this we can determine that Pollan is a creditable source,...
Words: 1295 - Pages: 6
...to maintain being healthy? In Michael Pollan’s book Omnivore’s Dilemma it covers four different food chains which consist of industrial, industrial organic,local sustainable,hunter/gatherer/gardened food the difference is that one is grown on a farm and the other is processed. Local Sustainable is better for the people in the United States because it is healthier for your body and no pesticides are used in the food. Local Sustainable has a lot less pollution than other food industries have. Pollan went to a farm and learned that local sustainable does not use pollution or pesticides For example in the text it says, “No fossil fuels or...
Words: 592 - Pages: 3
...Samuel Benson Mrs.Vermillion AP L+C 19 February 2018 Omnivore’s Dilemma Summary Michael Pollan, an average American journalist, paid no attention to where his food came from as everyone else did prior to the writing of his book, Omnivore’s Dilemma. That was until he was sent out to cover a story on genetically modified foods and was surprised to see how complicated and contrived the food manufacturing system was. His findings prompted Pollan to set out on his own quest to discover what he really was putting in his mouth. His journey carried him all across America and taught him the importance quality food has on all other aspects of life. Pollan started out uncovering the modern farming machine and how it ticks. All of agribusiness is run...
Words: 538 - Pages: 3
...The Dilemma Surrounding Corn-Fed Vs. Grass-Fed Beef Anonymous DeVry University The Dilemma Surrounding Corn-Fed Vs. Grass-Fed Beef There are many positive and negative opinions surrounding beef that range from the process of raising cattle to the final stage of consumption. An area of controversy revolves around the pros and cons of corn-fed verses grass-fed cattle. It appears grain-based (corn or soy) diets cause numerous health problems for cattle, creating unhealthy cattle and unhealthy meat. Two areas of concern are the nutrition and health aspects of grain-fed beef and the risk of E. coli. It is believed by many that pasture-based cattle contribute to healthy eating. Using our grasslands, which is a natural process, creates a foundation for raising grass-fed cattle (Clancy & Pollan, 2006). An animal’s diet can profoundly influence the nutrient content of its products. In a comparison, beef from grain-fed cattle only contain 15 to 50 percent as much omega-3s and are higher in calories and fat content, specifically saturated fat. As herbivores, cows are intended to graze. Omega-3s are produced from eating grass or leaves of plants which contain 20 times more vitamin E than corn or soy (Pollan, 2006 and Robinson, n.d., Eatwild). Cattle that are fed grain and confined to feedlots are prone to disease. They develop bloat, diarrhea, ulcers, liver disease, and weakened immune systems. According to a study (Greener Pastures: How Grass-fed Beef and Milk...
Words: 989 - Pages: 4
...In chapters 1-9 of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan discussed industrial farming. The section explained the ways that corn was used and how we are eating it about 80% of the time. His claim about industrial farming is that it is overused. Pollan organizes his ideas in problem/solution order, but it is ineffective, as he never really presents a solution to answer the problems he recognizes. Pollan organizes these chapters in problem/solution order. Problem/solution order is when an author present a problem that he wants express to his readers. Then he comes up with a solution the problem and explains it (“8 ways an author can organize text,” n.d.). First of all, Pollan states early in the section, “yet if you look a little closer,...
Words: 333 - Pages: 2
... The lack of a balanced diet and an adequate amount of exercise has led to the crisis that we are facing around the country today. Michael Pollan addresses these problems in The Omnivore’s Dilemma. The Omnivore’s Dilemma, was written by the famous journalist, Michael Pollan in 2007. Pollan opens by addressing the simple question, what should we have for dinner? A simple question that use to be so straightforward has now become so complicated. The book is split into three parts dividing the food chain up based on the three principal food systems that continue to flourish today: industrial, organic, and the hunter-gatherer. The industrial section of the book discusses the process that corn goes through before the general public consumes it as a fast food 2 meal. The second section discusses alternatives to industrial food and farming, which is referred to as organic food and farming. Pollan states in the introduction, “ So the book’s pastoral section serves up the natural history of two very different “organic” meals: one whose ingredients came from my local Whole Foods supermarket (gathered there from as far away as Argentina), and the other tracing its origins to a single polyculture of grasses growing at Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia” (Pollan 8). The Omnivore’s Dilemma gives history about where the foods that we consume come from. Pollan furthermore discusses how majority of the processed foods that we consume are...
Words: 2714 - Pages: 11
...University High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has recently received considerable media attention for its negative impacts on consumers’ health. Most investigators and nutritionists believe that the increase in obesity in the United States has paralleled the increasing use of HFCS. Current soft drinks and many other foods are sweetened with this product because it is inexpensive and has useful manufacturing properties. All of these reasons directly benefits the food companies, but are causing body damage and metabolic diseases for the consumers. Even though the corn lobby is trying to prove that HFCS is nearly similar to regular sugar, this is not true. HFCS is high in fructose (55%-72% fructose and 45%-28% glucose) citation needed for these statistics. that is bad for our health. It is so ubiquitous in processed foods and so over-consumed by the average American that many experts believe our nation faces the prospect of an epidemic of metabolic disease in the future, related in significant degree to excess consumption of high-fructose corn syrup. The fact that HFCS is a highly and overly processed unhealthy sugar that is also linked to obesity and other cardiovascular diseases should cause great alarm in all American consumers. First of all, HFCS is very different from regular table sugar. It is a highly processed sweetener that is bad for our health. If you ever tasted cornstarch, you know that it is not sweet. It has a dry and powdery taste. Turning corn into a sweetener involves...
Words: 1358 - Pages: 6
...Why Don’t We Eat Dogs? Franklin Salcedo DeVry University 01-27-2013 Why Don’t We Eat Dogs? What makes some animals better than others? Or better yet, why do we eat certain animals while it is a crime to eat others? It is questions like these that many people would hope to ignore forever or rather avoid. But as humans, these are the type of questions which define us as better beings and often challenge us to think and act in a way that’s worthy of our better capabilities, intellect, conscience, and hearts. If only an animal would ever speak or rise up the way many human rights activist did in the past in defense of human equality regardless of race or skin color. Surely we would have massive protests and riots from pigs, cows, lambs, goats, and many other animals whose rights are just completely ignore by the vast majority. It is sad to see that these rights are only applied in favor of a handful of animals, while others are locked away and confined to feedlots where the powerful meat industry obliterates their rights and turn their lives into profitable pieces of meat. Though it is legal by law, culture, and trade, the maltreatment and killing of these animals to feed the inhumane and greedy meat for profit industry must stop not only because it violates animal rights, but also because it promotes an agenda of animal abuse, exploitation, and unhealthy human nutrition for generations to come. Instead, the Government should partner up with animal rights activist groups and...
Words: 2645 - Pages: 11
...Great Depression, you can see clear as day that the poor people in line at the soup kitchens were thin as tooth picks while the well-off crowd was pleasantly plump. Today however, that trend has reversed itself. Pictures of terribly obese people at Wal-Mart paying for their groceries with food stamps are now the norm while the better off crowd are skinny and svelte looking. There are many theories as to why this has happened and in the book, Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan reasons that is because the cost per calorie has become exceedingly cheap. Simply put, it is cheaper to eat non-healthy items and pack on the weight in the process, or in other words, it is cheaper to be fat. Some make the argument that lack of education in the poor communities is the main culprit of poor obesity. The argument states that poor people just do not have the education necessary to know what and what not to eat. This may have some validity in it, which I will address later, but it does not change the fact that, as stated by Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma: “that a dollar could buy 1,200 calories of potato chips and cookies; spent on a whole food like carrots, the same dollar buys only 250 calories. On the beverage aisle, you can buy 875 calories of soda for a dollar, or 170 calories of fruit juice from concentrate (108). Well educated or not, if you only have a dollar to spend, you are going to try and get the most bang for your buck and that means the higher calorie, less healthy alternative...
Words: 2168 - Pages: 9
...The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan talks about the food chains that keep America sustained and the effects that we have made on the environment. Pollan tries to convey that the good treatment of animals and their environments is beneficial to the quality and taste of the food. My favorite part of the book was when Pollan went to Polyface farm and learned about grass farming. The farmer at Polyface wanted his farm to mimic a natural ecosystem where all the animals and plants would live mutualistically to better the environment around them. The biggest takeaway from this book was that every single thing in the food chain has an effect on the food on our plates. How the animals or plants are grown, killed, and shipped all matter to the...
Words: 430 - Pages: 2
...I decided to do my review on part one of Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”. This covered chapters 1,2 and 3 of the book. I must admit that it did not meet my expectations at all. I had high hopes that it would be entertaining, and informative. I was partially correct, in the fact that it was very informative- even to the point that I cant go eat McDonalds, without thinking about this book or the information that is stuck in my head. Before reading Pollan’s book, I was excited to learn something that could affect me in everyday life. Finally I could have answers to my questions about what I am eating, what are all these ingredients that I can’t pronounce, where do they come from and are they, or are they not good for me. It is the type of book that I had never read before, but thought would be good for me, mainly because I am trying to improve the health of myself as well as my young family. The most life altering information that I learned from the book came within the first couple chapters. He traced a McDonalds meal back to it’s main ingredient (corn). I eat McDonalds pretty much every other day; Pollan opened my eyes to what was going on behind the making of a simple chicken nugget. I was surprised to learn how much corn we use in everyday life, and not just in food, even in the buildings that we walk in, corn plays a major part in the making of these as well. I do believe that the main reason I didn’t care for the book to much is because it really forced...
Words: 356 - Pages: 2
