An Omnivore's Dilemma thread (the book by Michael Pollan)

[KatyTheChickenLady]

Now i gotta go get it to find out why corn is evil!
thanks for mentioning the book.

 

[ksacres]

Quote:
I like corn

 

[FrenchHen]

Nothing wrong with corn when we know we're eating it. How much the industrial food chain uses corn was a bit scary. I forget the percentage, but a tremendous amount of our food contains, or was fed, corn. We as Americans eat more corn (albeit indirectly) than Mexicans.

Nothing wrong with corn on the cob, cornbread, or corn tortillas. It's the HFCS and other hidden corn that causes problems.

 

[weaveagarden]

Quote:
I like corn

Ah, but have you read the book.

PS.... Don't tell anybody, but I like Fresh unadulterated corn too. And also popcorn

 

[Javamama]

I am in the middle of it. I normally breeze through books, but I'm having trouble getting into this one. It's a bit too wordy for me - I don't have the ability to concentrate with my kids around all the time. I had my chickens first. It is reinforcing my desire to grow/raise it myself, or buy local.

 

[JennsPeeps]

1. Have you read the book?

Yes, I did read it about 1.5 yrs ago and still think about it often.

2. Did it influence your acquisition of laying hens?

Definitely. I think by the time I read it I was already planning on getting hens (or may have just gotten them). I'd read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and it was the proverbial final nail in the chicken coop.

3. Did it influence a venture toward meat birds?

It will. We dont' have enough property to have the birds we do, much less venture into meat birds.

More than anything, MP's book made me get serious abuot being a localvore. I can heavily now as a result. I go out of my way to buy local foods and don't mind paying extra. When I see a $12 chicken at the farmers market, I know that it is worth the cost and it is a healthier bird than the $5 one down at the chain grocery store.

 

[chickiebaby]

1. Read and LOVED the book. Plus there's a new movie out now, called Food, Inc., which is basically the movie version of the book.

2. Already had chickens for a few years before the book.

3. Definitely made me think yet harder about what we eat and where it comes from. The workers' rights issues are important to me, too. Factory food causes animal suffering, wasted environments, AND human suffering.

Ha! I have never looked at corn the same way again, now that I know how it reproduces. Cornfields are definitely rated NC-17!

 

[Egg_newton]

Just put a request hold on from my local public library

 

[hikerchick]

Quote:
I thought Food Inc was a book in it's own right.

 

[Lady Henevere]

Quote:
I thought Food Inc was a book in it's own right.

I have read The Omnivore's Dilemma and Food Inc.

The Omnivore's Dilemma can, at times, be a dense and difficult read. For anyone planning to read it, keep in mind that there is a thousand times more information in there than anyone really needs (extensive histories, etc.), so don't be afraid to skim through the denser parts if you want to. But I definitely recommend it.

The bulk of Omnivore's Dilemma discusses the industrial food industry and how unnatural most processed "food" is. Food Inc. the book (not the movie, which I haven't seen yet) is a collection of essays on different issues focusing more on the industry itself and how to get away from industrial food. There is some overlap though.

To answer the OP's questions, I don't remember if it influenced me getting chickens, and it did not influence a venture toward meat birds since I'm a vegetarian.

I just finished Pollan's next book, In Defense of Food, and it has a lot of interesting information as well. Sort of a history of food science and nutritionism, which have made the food industry what it is today. It also talks about how we as a culture look at food and how that influences how we eat. I recommend it as well.

Now I'm reading permaculture books to figure out how to best design my sustainable garden to leave the food industry, and even the industry's hybrid vegetable seeds, behind for good. (Well, as much as I can, anyway....)