| Product Summary | | Format: Paperback | | ISBN: 9780143038580 | | Publisher: Penguin Books | | Publish Date: 8/28/2007 | | Buy.com Sku: 203954974 | | Item#: RXDGQ9 | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 1421 | | Dimensions (in Inches) 8.5H x 5.75L x 1.25T | | Pages: 464 |
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| | | The bestselling author of the "Botany of Desire" explores the ecology of eating to unveil why man consumes what he consumes in the 21st century.
Annotation:
With an intense, yet elegant, examination of the agricultural origins of four meals from three different pathways, Michael Pollan, bestselling author of THE BOTANY OF DESIRE, explores how the American diet affects the planet. Tracing the mind-boggling path of corn from seed to plate, Pollan analyzes industrial agriculture with a fast food meal in mind. Then he looks at the pastoral ("organic") food chain by working on a small Virginia farm where the attitude is dramatically different, and the meal entirely homegrown. Finally, Pollan investigates the hunter-gatherer lifestyle by foraging and hunting, to turn out a meal directly from the original sources of what we eat. His book is a tour de force that is not only thought-provoking, but timely. Named one of the 10 Best Books of 2006 by The New York Times, as well as a 2006 Publishers Weekly Book of the Year.
| Praise| "Mr. Pollan...wants us at least to know what it is we are eating, where it came from and how it got to our table. He also wants us to be aware of the choices we make and to take responsibility for them. It's an admirable goal, well met in THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA." - Moira Hodgson 04/14/2006 "[Pollan's] supermeticulous reporting is the book's strength--you're not likely to get a better explanation of exactly where your food comes from." - David Kamp 04/23/2006 |
| Author Bio| Michael Pollan | | Michael Pollan was born in 1955 and grew up in Syosset, on Long Island, New York. He was educated at Bennington College, Oxford University, and Columbia University, where he received his Master's degree in English in 1981. He first gained prominence as a journalist, writing for New York Times Magazine beginning in 1987, and later becoming an executive editor at Harper's. His first book, SECOND NATURE, published in 1991, is a witty chronicle of his trials and tribulations starting out as a gardener in New England, and quickly became known as a seminal text in the gardening genre. Following two more award-winning gardening-related titles, Pollan broke into the big time with THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA in 2006. This tremendously arresting and insightful analysis of the ecology of eating caused ripples big enough to mark a culture shift within multiple industries, pushing the move towards organic whole foods and spawning a slew of similar titles by imitators. Pollan's own follow-up, IN DEFENSE OF FOOD, became an instant bestseller, cementing his place among the most relevant and prominent non-fiction writers of the early 21st century. |
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| Customer Reviews | ![]() | | Writing |  5 | | Content | 5 | | Readability | 5 | | Overall Satisfaction | 5 |
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5 of 5 If you don't want to know what your food eats, don Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Dan from Lawrence, Kansas
This was nothing like my typical read, but I found it to be one of a very short list of books I, upon completing, consider important.
As Pollan points out early on, we go to great lengths to background check a mechanic before giving over custody of the family car, yet we turn around into Supermarket X, grab a box of crunchy something or a pack of chicken or beef to put into our bodies without another thought. What's in it; how did it get to me? Does a mcnugget contain more chicken or is it mostly corn?
You wouldn't think the commoditization of corn, industrial beef production, or how much time a chicken actually spent outside would capture more than your passing interest, but Pollan pulls it off masterfully.
You will reconsider food after you learn its path to your fork, and you will certainly treasure the 'time you spend' on Joel Salatin's Shenandoah Valley 'grass farm'.
Thoreau took us to the woods to live deliberately; Pollan reminds us that eating -- that our relationship with our food is a vital part of that living. Was this review helpful?  
5 of 5 FAR FAR BETTER THAN EXPECTED Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Ben Washburn from Detroit, Michigan
This book is a brilliant exposition on a subject, which although very important to everyone, is generally ignored as being too boring. The seashift in farming and food processing processes over the past fifty years is not the kind of stuff which would ordinarily grab one's attention. But Michael Pollan takes these facts and weaves them into a fascinating and jarringly disturbing picture. The world is indeed painting itself into a starvation corner, which could trigger endless, seismic, and devastating conflicts. Was this review helpful?
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