• The Omnivore's Dilemma

  • A Natural History of Four Meals
  • By: Michael Pollan
  • Narrated by: Scott Brick
  • Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (9,316 ratings)

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The Omnivore's Dilemma

By: Michael Pollan
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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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

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What listeners say about The Omnivore's Dilemma

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A feast of a book!

Fantastic read on how food works in modern times told through several different meals.

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lots of interesting information on food production

great deep dive into where you food comes from and the externalities and costs associated. I will always think of food differently now.

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Corn Walking

This book expanded my knowledge of what was given to us in Food, Inc. I love how it talks about the 4 meals. The story that goes with them.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Love Pollan...

Love Pollan. His book on psychedelics is fantastic. He's a good writer but this wasn't my favorite subject matter. But anyone into food will love this.

Good read by Brick.

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An excellent overview of where we get our food

The first 4/5ths of this book give the listener a lot to think about and act on regarding what is in our food, where it comes from, and whether or not we should decide to do something about. It definitely helped me solidify my desire to pay whatever premium necessary to eat food that is well-sourced, and perhaps even go the extra mile to find local produce rather than glumly march to Whole Foods.

I found the history of corn particularly riveting and couldn't shut up about it to my friends - the book begins to meander in the last fourth of the book however, transitioning from useful information and history to a purely philosophical experience of hunting a pig and foraging for mushrooms. Not useless, but comparatively bland to the rest of the book. Had to power through it as fast as 3.0x speed.

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very important

through his patience and intellect michael pollan has created a classic it should be required reading of everyone.

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Changed my life

This book will drastically change the way you look at each meal and the world

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Fascinating look at industrial ag and its alternatives

Compelling narration of a fascinating story about how our food gets from farm (or forest) to table, and the costs thereof - both hidden and non. Warning: the beginning was a little corny.

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  • JB
  • 02-18-21

a lesson about the power of bias

I don't know how I managed to get through this entire book, but somehow I did. I usually like Pollan, he's a good journalist and a great writer, but this book should have been called "How I convinced myself it's okay to eat meat despite everything else I know."
it starts well, but it drops dramatically and never recovers. I have so much to say about this book I could write an essay, but in short: just wasn't worth my time.

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    5 out of 5 stars

insightful

to understand something is to examine it from beginning to end, Pollan does this with something most people haven't thought about but do pretty much 3 times a day for their entire lives. worth reading and discussing with the people who you care

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