The Omnivore's Dilemma

A Natural History of Four Meals

By: Michael Pollan

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

The best-selling author of The Botany of Desire explores the ecology of eating to unveil why we consume what we consume in the 21st century.

"What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another, this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn't, which mushrooms should be avoided, for example, and which berries we can enjoy. Today, as America confronts what can only be described as a national eating disorder, the omnivore's dilemma has returned with an atavistic vengeance.

The cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet has thrown us back on a bewildering landscape where we once again have to worry about which of those tasty-looking morsels might kill us. At the same time we're realizing that our food choices also have profound implications for the health of our environment. The Omnivore's Dilemma is best-selling author Michael Pollan's brilliant and eye-opening exploration of these little-known but vitally important dimensions of eating in America.

We are indeed what we eat, and what we eat remakes the world. A society of voracious and increasingly confused omnivores, we are just beginning to recognize the profound consequences of the simplest everyday food choices, both for ourselves and for the natural world. The Omnivore's Dilemma is a long-overdue book and one that will become known for bringing a completely fresh perspective to a question as ordinary and yet momentous as "What shall we have for dinner?"

©2006 Michael Pollan (P)2006 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Gold Medal in Nonfiction for the California Book Award • Winner of the 2007 Bay Area Book Award for Nonfiction • Winner of the 2007 James Beard Book Award/Writing on Food Category • Finalist for the 2007 Orion Book Award • Finalist for the 2007 NBCC Award

"Thoughtful, engrossing . . . You're not likely to get a better explanation of exactly where your food comes from."—The New York Times Book Review

"An eater's manifesto . . . [Pollan's] cause is just, his thinking is clear, and his writing is compelling. Be careful of your dinner!"—The Washington Post

"Outstanding . . . a wide-ranging invitation to think through the moral ramifications of our eating habits."—The New Yorker

Excellent subject, overly dramatic performance

I found the narration to be distracting and off-tone for the majority of this book. I really regret going the audiobook route in this case.

TOO MUCH COOKING....BUT TOO GOOD NOT TO READ

If you could sum up The Omnivore's Dilemma in three words, what would they be?

Disclaimer: I'm an author and scientist. I like information-heavy books. That being said...I'm so torn. This book was too long for my liking. Too much cooking shenanigans. Yet I've recommended it to several people. The info in invaluable and worth learning the zen of patience during a long bout of cooking extravaganza.

Which character – as performed by Scott Brick – was your favorite?

I loved his spotlight of Polyface. Joel Salatin is a hero - with some WHACKY ideas - and more people should be listening to Salatin and our country should totally adopt his farming style.

Any additional comments?

Citing a Berkeley researcher, he says C-13 studies indicate that Americans are "corn chips with legs". Freaking hilarious.

Fee range = 2 weeks of open door that chickens don't even use because of habits already ingrained. Also, their feed is infused with kelp for omega. CRAZY!

"Input exchange" is modern organic versus standard farming. Ideal is NO input (fertilizer, pesticides, etc) but careful rotation like Polyface Farm.

"The thing most morally troubling about killing animals is that after a short time, it is not morally troubling."

2 business models emerge here: Commodity business (industrial model, including Whole Foods) needs to exploit scale to cheapen price to compete, and less skilled labor for more mechanicals/tech/fuel. Artisianal is opposite.

Competitive strategy here needs to specializing well and keeping expenses down. Growing for the sake of growth, national markets, advertising, striving for uniformity, and removing skilled labor will all move toward a weak Commodity model (go one way or another).

"The great advantage of being a reasonable creature is that you can find a reason for whatever you want to do" Ben Franklin quote in the animal rights part. Frustration of animals' instincts is a problem. Interesting.

Life Changing Book!

What did you love best about The Omnivore's Dilemma?

This book was such an eye-opener for me! I chose this book to educate myself further about the subject of pesticides, genetically modified foods and many other serious topics regarding our food chain that keeps popping up, but seems to be flying under the radar. I got more than I bargained for by listening to this well-researched and brilliant book. Now, I can never "un-listen" or get the facts out of my mind! Making huge changes to how/where I obtain my food.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Omnivore's Dilemma?

There is so much wrong with the different branches of our food supply chain that I felt over whelmed. The section that related to how the government now pretty much owns the word "Organic" and has taken over the word from independent farmers for their own gains was pretty disturbing. The new word is "Sustainable". I'm so glad I've obtained this important piece of information. Besides learning exactly how MUCH corn we actually get in our diets, the other memorable parts that made me sad and disgusted pertained to how animals are treated as part of the food supply. This has to change and I hope more and more people get on board to help make global changes for healthier choices for both animals and humans.

What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I enjoyed the performance by Scott Brick. Excellent tone and voice is pleasing to the ear.

Any additional comments?

I was glad I listened instead of read this book, because it does go very long. You should read or listen in increments, if not to help digest the amount of information, then, to avoid fatigue, and lose the value of all the great information being presented.

excellent understanding of Food

As a farmer and Hunter this book really brings to light the problems our society faces and ignores. I know I'm guilty of many things this book goes over but I am trying to change that and go back to a natural way of life!

A must read

Learned so much. Think more about the food I eat and where it comes from. Everyone should read this book!

why can't we get good food?

Great to the last page. Very important for anyone who eats. Pollan has written an extraordinary book.

Pretty good, but incomplete.

Mr. Pollan is an excellent story teller, and wordsmith. However. while he does does touch on part of the criticism of eating animals. He completely ignores the health and global impacts of consuming animal products. He does mention that the father of the polyface farm family died at 65.

absolutely wonderful

I have no additional thoughts or words that haven't been said before about this book. please give this a read it's wonderful

Great and insightful book

Great narrative around the author’s experience trying to provide an on-site/real-life perspective of how different classifications of food are produced. It may cause others to rethink their approach to food purchases.

Excellent!

Very well researched and compellingly written. The book is a rare combination of the educational while being entertaining.