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. …show more content…
A good 6% of ingredients in Twinkies™ are made from corn in some way, shape, or form. Even though processed foods are made in different varieties, most of them are very bad for the body. Many American children from 9-19 years of age are very more often obese than any other country. The rate of obesity and processed foods seem to be rising at the same rate in America. It must be purely coincidence,