Exploring Different Spectrums of the Human Food Chain

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan is probably one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read.  This book explores the Omnivore’s Dilemma, and every single type of  food chain that the average person today eats from.  I definitely found out a lot of ideas, and inside secrets to the food chains that I had no idea about before!

    This book explores everything from your classic cheeseburger and soda at McDonalds, to a hunter-gathered meal made from scratch.  The author and narrator, Michael Pollan, travels to all sorts of farms around the US, in order to find out about our food.

    One thing I’ve learned, is that almost everything that we eat comes from corn.  Corn, corn, and corn.  Corn.  Although it may not seem like it, your food is developed from corn.  The meat that you eat is from animals that have eaten corn.  Your soda, your lollipop, your pasta, from corn.  And on, and on.  

           Over the course of the book, Michael Pollan explores the industrial food chain, where all of your fast food is made from corn starting in a huge grain farm in the Midwest.  This corn will be fed to cows who are kept in a lot where they are up to their knees in their own manure, and then they are slaughtered to become your hamburger.  The other half of your corn will go to the high fructose corn syrup in your 10 oz. soda.

Mcdonalds Meal From the Industrial Food Chain

          Next, Michael Pollan explores the Industrial organic food chain, which is of course, much healthier than the industrial food chain.  One question being asked and debated in this food chain, though, is what is organic food?  Can there be such a thing as organic packaged food? Well, of course there are some limits, but there are also those companies that have packaged and shipped food, which uses up fossil fuel, but they somehow get away with a packaged TV dinner, which basically means that the TV dinner was grown without pesticides.  Overall, what I learned from this "organic" food chain, is that organic isn't always the healthiest, but is basically a label for "healthy" food.

Organic Tv Dinner, which may not be as healthy for you as you think...

         The third food chain that Michael Pollan goes to is the "beyond organic" food chain.   Well, it's kind of an informal type of food chain, but Michael Pollan travels to a farm in Virginia, where he stays for a week, helping with the rotation of animals, and finally, in the end of the week, slaughtering the chickens himself, and cooking it as a delicious meal.  I really admire all of the work that these farmers on tiny farms put so much work into making good quality food.

Farm Chickens, on a beyond organic farm

          The final and most interesting food chain to me that Michael Pollan investigated is the do it yourself food chain.  Michael Pollan decides to take on the task of hunting, gathering, and gardening his meal.  Using a variety of resources including friends of friends, gardening books, and so on, Michael Pollan learns how to put together a meal of Wild pig shot by himself, lettuce, grown in his garden, cherries, grown by himself, and of course, mushrooms, which are gathered by Michael Pollan.  I really enjoyed learning about how in the modern day world, you can put together a meal that you could've had thousands of years earlier.

          This book opened me up to the food I eat everyday.  It definitely changed that I make choices about my food, and gave me a broader sense of the modern day food world.  Michael wrote this book to understand food more, and I read it, learning about more types of food than I can keep track of!

Here is a link to Michael Pollan's Website, all about food! 

http://michaelpollan.com/

Here is a link to the organic Poly Face Farm mentioned in the book!

http://www.polyfacefarms.com/