The Secrets Behind What We Eat

BOOK NAME: The Omnivore's Dilemma
AUTHOR: Michael Pollan

       Where does our food come from? What is hidden is the food we eat? What should we have for dinner? These are all simple questions that Pollan tries to figure out throughout The Omnivores Dilemma.
      Pollan starts out with starting with visiting a supermarket with the point of view as a naturalist. He starts to notice there is some form of corn in almost everything. From this he sets off to the Naylor farm. The farm started out with growing a variety of crops and animals but as time went on, they started to only sell soybeans and corn. As Pollan describes "a corn field is like a city," it keeps expanding and expanding. It's abundance has made its price much lower than before. Pollan visits the grain elevator where Naylor drops off his yearly crop of corn. At first, he is disgusted by the huge pyramid of corn. But, he realizes the corn that he is looking at is very different than the plant that we call food.

A pyramid of processed corn.

      Next, Pollan wonders how corn can turn into burgers. He visits Pokey Feeders, a farm. At this farm, animals eat farms' plants, farms use waste as fertilizers. The health risk of eating meat that is not grass fed is the source of the cattle's feed. Much of there feed can be beef tallow, meaning a cow would eat other cows or chickens will be eating other chickens. They also eat a lot of processed corn which isn't natural for the animals.

A normal living condition for a factory farmed chicken.

        There is a limit of food each human being can eat in one year, this is 1,500 pounds. This is the "fixed stomach". Even though this is the healthy limit, food industry wants us to eat much, much more than that. Here is a link that talks a lot more and helped me understand more about how much we should  eat and how much the industry wants us to eat:  The Fixed Stomach. With this, I started to wonder how much I eat a year, is it less/more? After his trip to Pokey Feeders, despite what he has already seen, he decides to have dinner out with his family at McDonalds. Pollan starts to wonder what is in his burger. He sets off to a farm almost the opposite to the Naylor farm. At Polyface farm they sell a variety of meats and vegetables. He meets with farmer Joel Salatin. Salatin does not refer to his farm as organic and he believes that he is a grass farmer. Salatin thinks that "industrial organic" is contradictory. After his experience at Polyface farm, Pollan sets off to Whole Foods. He starts looking on the labels on the milk. He starts to realize it is almost like they are competing to show whose milk is more wholesome.
       Pollan decides to get his hunting license. As he shoots his first prey, he is expecting to feel sad and guilty but instead he feels powerful and excited.
       I would definitely recommend this book because it is entertaining and an interesting way to learn about where our food comes from. It also tells you about exactly what you are eating.
       Other books by Michael Pollan can be found here. I will definitely be reading other books of his in the future. Michael Pollan books