...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...
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...| The Omnivore Review | A review on Michael Pollans “The Omnivore dilemma” | | Cody Windsor Harrington | DeVry University | The Omnivore Review As agriculture technology continues to advance in the new world most of us have lost our pre historic skills of basic survival when it comes to hunting and gathering. America’s agriculture logistics are so well developed that most Americans relay on this system to stay alive. A small portion of people out there still remain intact with their pre historic agriculture skills. That is what Author Michael Pollan writes about In Part 3, Chapters 15, 16, and 17 of The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Michael Pollan talks about looking for different foods, the ethics of hunting animals and harvesting the meat as well as giving a brief look into what brought about the paradox of The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Chapters 15, 16, and 17 bring up a lot of good points about foraging and hunting. Pollan provides in depth detail and research on the topics. The difficult part is staying focused on the story the author is illustrating. Pollan tends to bounce around on different topics and drags out details making it difficult to keep the reader entertained. Chapter 15 of Omnivore's Dilemma discusses how Pollan is preparing to make a meal from all of the foraging groups. Fruits, vegetables, fungi, and meat were the components that made up this meal. His goal was to find and gather enough from each group to make his first meal from nature. Pollan discusses...
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...The Omnivore’s Dilemma Part III: Personal Charles F. Nelson DeVry University The Omnivore’s Dilemma Part III: Personal The book, The Omnivores Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollen, is a much more tangled and thought provoking treatise on American cuisine, than the title even begins to suggest. In chapters 15-17, Pollan skillfully brings us along as he explores the good, bad, risk, and reward of our choice to eat as a Hunter-gatherer. He delves into relationships of this choice that are normally unimagined by the vast majority. He paints the emotion mental turmoil of this decision with illuminating facts and masterful language in a way that exposes somewhat humorous paradox’s that keep us hungering for more of this insightful and exhilarating book. In these chapters Pollan explores the dilemmas facing us through his own experiences in choosing to eat as a Hunter-gatherer. Using poignant language that unfolds naturally he depicts the risks of gathering or hunting foods from various perspectives. His flowing logic in making his choice is laced generously with support from sources such as Walden, Thoreau, Leopold, Shepard, and others, thus giving credence to the entire process. This thorough, well supported reasoning frequently gives rise to subtle ironies making the American dilemma of eating somewhat laughable and the book all the more fascinating. Pollan keeps the reader mentally...
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...Running head: The Omnivore’s Dilemma: First Draft The Omnivore's Dilemma: First Draft Introduction Reading The Omnivores Dilemma, The Forest section goes over the life, killing and processing of animals as food. The process of killing these animals comes into question in many people’s minds, as they fear or worry the animals were treated badly in their lives, or were killed in an inhumane way. This will explain on how it is hypocritical of an individual who eats meat to have an issue with and against the ways these animals are processed. The Feeding of Animals Animals that are raised as livestock are there for the reason of eventually being killed and processed for food. They are fed as an animal being raised for such purposes. One would not feed an animal high grade food whenever they are going to be slaughtered and used for consumption; because they will be eaten, their food quality needs to be good, but not top end food. These animals just need to be healthy. The argument for animals needing to be fed high quality foods in these situations is absurd to say the least. The Containment of Animals The perception that animals are contained inhumanely is largely incorrect. While of course some operations would not adhere to the set standards, for the most part confinement of livestock is done according to established guidelines. Take the opening scene from the movie Babe...
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...Evaluation of Company Q’s Current Attitude Toward Social Responsibility -------------------------------- Abstract Company Q is a small grocery store chain that recently closed two of its stores located in what was considered high-crime areas of the city. Closure of the stores is reportedly due to loss of revenue. Responding to years of customer demand, Company Q decided to sell a small selection of healthy and organic products in its remaining stores and they sold these products at high margins. Citing concerns of theft and fraud by its own employees, Company Q’s management opted to discard expiring (and high margin) healthy and organic food products over donating them to the local area food bank. I. INTRODUCTION The supporting principal behind social responsibility is a business’s obligation to maximize its positive impact while minimizing its negative impact on stakeholders and on the environment in which it operates. The ideals of social responsibility are ever present in today’s society and a standard in business culture, principles of which are a recurring theme of ethics in almost every industry. Company Q’s current attitude toward social responsibility is apathetic as the company’s management appears to be primarily focused on matters that drive short-term profit increase. Being focused on short-term gains, Company Q misses opportunities to be socially responsible where the business can better ensure its own sustainment by creating wealth over the long-term....
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...The Omnivore’s Dilemma – All about the Corn Non-fiction books for me need to be based on un-twisted facts; no sugar coating or conveniently left out information. While humor is often appreciated in more serious or less interesting subjects; the truth should not be diluted or altered in order to sway the reader’s beliefs or opinions. Sound research, interesting subject and a clear explanation are important to me when I read non-fiction. The book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, was not able to hold my attention for more than a few paragraphs. The national eating disorder of which this book is supposed to be explaining seems to have been lost to the subject of corn. We still don’t know after reading part one, what we should eat for dinner. While the facts are there in regards to corn and how many products we use corn in or are a product of corn; the eating disorder does not seem to be the main focus in the first three chapters of part one. Understandably corn is an integral part of our diet and in many of the products we should and should not eat. This knowledge does not help readers to understand there is more to the national eating disorder than the fact that corn is in many of our foods. Corn alone is not the problem! Things like portion control can greatly reduce obesity as well as other eating related health issues like diabetes and high blood pressure; none of this was mentioned in the opening paragraphs of a book that is supposed to touch on the subject of the national...
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...December 2, 2015 Task 1 The small local grocery story Q is more economically responsible than it is environmental or philanthropic. The economic model is a more traditional concept of business, very old school. A business is considered successful if they are providing good service and quality product showing a profit and providing jobs. Company Q is more concerned with what is best for the company, not necessarily what is best for their community, customers or stakeholders. The two stores they closed were in high crime rate areas and lost revenue and profits were low. The remaining stores are now offering a narrow choice of health conscious and organic foods; which are high margin items. Management declined to donate day old merchandise to a local food pantry because they feared loss of revenues due to fraud or theft by employees. Company Q is not creating a positive impact in their community, with their customer, employees or stakeholders through their lack of philanthropic actions. Ethically, Company Q has not done anything wrong by not giving to the food pantry or closing two of its stores, it just reflects poorly on them as a company. Company Q needs to improve their reputation by making changes to their social economic approach to social responsibility. This type of approach would focus not only on profits, but also focus on the benefits of the business to society. Company Q can make these improvements in three parts; customer fulfillment, public outreach...
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...“My family doesn’t shop organic. We can’t afford it”, a popular excuse proposed by Lasara Allen, a single mother of California, unfortunately escapes the mouths of thousands of Americans around the country. Most people, when consulted with the term “organic”, instantly weigh the lack of taste and higher cost above the more important fact: health benefits. People of this nature despise the word, understanding the consequences of eating processed food but furthermore overriding the need to change with absurd reasoning, leaving the bad habit to thrive among families. When it comes to the topic of eating organic, most of us will readily agree that it should be a favored lifestyle, in fact it must be. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is the question of dedication. Whereas some are convinced it is an act of laziness, others label their income as unsupportive leaving them incapable of shopping organic. I believe these excuses are unethical; Lasara Allen, one of many Americans who are adequate achievers, is qualified enough to dig beneath the surface and become part of a healthy lifestyle given the right amount of motivation. Eating organic stands bold with its reputation of failure; what people don’t comprehend is the transition from an unhealthy lifestyle should not be immediate and must be handled with patience. There are many secret tricks and concealed knowledge about organic produce that most individuals never unfold due to their own frustration. Allen, concerned...
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...Part 1 The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals is a book that focuses on the meal choices of human since we have a wide variety of choices to choose from. The books section industrial/corn is a foundation for the remainder of the chapters and provides information on how the food industrial food chain is based largely on corn. Pollan goes into detail about how corn became a large contribution to the American diet through a mixture of many factors such as biological and cultural. This chapter of the novel has lived up to many common expectations that classify a good book. Some common expectations of a good book are being informational, being presented in an easy format for the audience to understand, and uses real life situations. The book is very informational with its exploration of the food production system and how corn is eaten in mass numbers whether it is eaten directly or processed into other foods. This information is presented in an understandable way that really relates to the audience. The chapter uses examples from real people such as George Naylor who discusses the factors of corn in our culture and how the plants survival is based on humans. Using real situations in a book helps the audience relate and want more. If the audience can think of the information that they learned in terms of everyday life, they will retain the information better. Seeing that corn is processed in many food under the name glucose it can make people really think of how...
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...An Organic Centre Wales project Consumer Attitudes towards Organic Food Survey of the General Public Executive Summary October 2010 Author Chris Timmins, Beaufort Research, Cardiff Better Organic Business Links The BOBL project is designed to support the primary producer in Wales and grow the market for Welsh organic produce in a sustainable way. The project will develop new, emerging and existing markets for organic produce whilst driving innovation, at all levels, within the supply chain. It will strive to increase the consumer demand and markets for organic produce, especially in the home market whilst also ensuring that the primary producers are aware of market demands. The project will provide valuable market information to prim ary producers and the organic sector in general. The overall aim is to support a thriving Welsh organic sector so that the benefits of WAG investment in the Organic Farming Scheme to generate agri-environmental benefits, and in the Welsh Organic Action Plan to support rural development and sustainable food production, can be fully realised. Delivery of the project is divided into five main areas of work: Driving innovation Consumer information and image development of organic food and farming in Wales Market development Market intelligence Addressing key structural problems within the sector. For more information on this report or other BOBL activities please contact: Sue Fowler, Director Organic...
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...TITLE: Local grown is better than organic Topic: Local grown is better than organic in some cases. Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that locally grown food is ideally better for you than the organic products from thousands of miles away that you can buy in a grocery store. Thesis: INTRODUCTION Attention-getting Material: apples – one locally grown and one organic from somewhere else Credibility Material: Preview: I. Introduction A. Which apple? B. The FDA 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths per year from food borne illnesses. majority contaminated produce, 38%. A. To persuade my audience to try locally grown produce over organic produce from thousands of mile away. B. Vast and heated topic C. Advantages in the areas of health and taste. (Transition: Trip to California.) C. Health A. No consistent findings 1. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a team from the University of California, Davis, significantly more vitamin C. No significant differences, conventional and organic bell peppers. 2. Npr.org, Dr. Stephen Kaffka , Involved, renowned student garden, Ph.D. in agronomy (field-crop production and soil management) a. UC Davis study “Long-Term Research on Farming Systems Project," 1991, slated for 100 years. Organic tomatoes plant compounds with potent antioxidant activity. 10-year mean levels of were 79-97 percent higher conventional b. Findings intriguing, Kaffka...
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...Company Q as a small company in a large metropolis seems at this point focused more on attempting to regain profit and sustainability versus social responsibility. This seems more apparent in that they closed stores in high crime areas because of financial loss versus evaluating the local demand and perhaps changing their business model to be a more conducive fit for the local area. They also have issue with believing that their employee base would be more inclined to deceive the company and steal its product than trust that with proper training and support, that they could as well be a contributing portion of the community. Finally they make a small attempt at trying to appeal to the community by providing a very limited amount of specialized food products at the request of the customer base, however it seems likely that this was only made viable as there is a large margin of return on the organic, healthy choice food items. This request was fulfilled after years of requests. The choice for Company Q to close up stores in high crime areas due to loss of income or profit becomes a social liability due to fact it give the appearance that the company does not concern itself about the community that they had hoped to profit from. To begin with, high crime areas are typically also low income or no income areas. Creating opportunity for individuals to earn a legitimate income as well as create a chance for community pride to develop. By focusing recruiting the workforce from the...
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...EST1 Task 1 Using the given scenario on company Q, I will evaluate whether each of their actions were socially responsible or not. A recommendation for each point will also be given. Overall, company Q’s attitude towards social responsibility is fair and has room for improvement Company Q recently closed two stores in higher-crime-rate areas. If a business is consistently losing money, the situation should be analyzed and a conclusion drawn as to the future of that business. It is possible that hiring security could have decreased theft but at what cost? The decision to close is simply a business decision and is not socially irresponsible. A recommendation would be to offer the current employees a transfer of positions to other stores. After years of customer requests, Company Q offered a small selection of health-conscience and organic products. While it’s concerning that it took years to offer what the customers were asking for, it’s a start to respond to the demand. The fact that it’s a limited supply and considered high margin items is not socially irresponsible. When supplying a new product time, it makes sense to start small and evaluate the demand on each item. Organic products will always cost more due to the process needed to supply. A recommendation would be to start a health conscious promotion with discounts attached. This would promote the new organic products and give loyal customers the opportunity to earn rewards and in turn get their organic products...
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...Pollan gives up meat for a while, inspired by an argument of Peter Singer: "No one in the habit of eating an animal can be completely without bias in judging whether the conditions in which that animal is reared cause suffering" (312). Yet he identifies himself as "a reluctant and, I fervently hoped, temporary vegetarian" (313), so it's not at all clear that the experiment does anything to lessen his bias. As a vegetarian, Pollan struggles with the social ramifications of eating differently. He points out that "my new dietary restrictions throw a big wrench into the basic host-guest relationship" (313) and decides, "I'm inclined to agree with the French, who gaze upon any personal dietary prohibition as bad manners" (313). Yet he'll find himself able to justify only a very limited kind of meat-eating, which likewise represents a "personal dietary prohibition." He then proceeds to discuss his alienation from traditions like the Passover brisket, apparently not allowing for the possibility that traditions might evolve over time. This rigid view of tradition is an odd one considering his plans to hunt an unkosher pig. Pollan then moves on to a discussion of animal rights philosophy. He claims to be debating Peter Singer, but he'll quote Matthew Scully when it better suits his point, never acknowledging any significant difference between the writers. Other times, he'll just quote Singer out of context. Pollan eventually argues for meat-eating on the grounds that it serves the...
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...The Omnivore's Dilemma written by Michael Pollan is a book that helps show how our cultures have changed in choosing what to eat and how how easy we are convinced to change what we eat. The last section of the book called The Forest the author points out the ethical and moral dilemmas and how far we have changed from our ancestors days of hunting and gathering for our meals to buying our meals from supermarkets or fast food restaurants.. The author opens this last section with how he wants to make one last meal with all the elements of this meal are to be hunted and gathered by his own hands and flows the into the topic of how we have changed from not knowing what is and isn't safe to eat and finally into the moral dilemma of eating meat. In the first part, The Forager the author's introduction pulls you in and entices to to keep reading to find out if he was successful in his mission. By using his personal history to explain his lacking experience in hunting and little experience with gathering leaves you hoping that he will ultimately be successful in preparing his meal. The common expectation that the hero or good guy will be successful in his mission is a frequent occurrence in media today. In this case the hero is the author and his quest isn't to save a princess but to be successful in hunting and gathering his own meal that is free from the industrialized food that is around every corner. The author does a great job in flowing between topics with continuing from his...
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