What should I eat?
Chances are, this question bounces around in your head quite a bit.
Considering how much of our time and money we spend on food—we think what you eat and where it comes from are two of the most important questions a person can chew on.
But only if you are ready for the answers, because in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan will take you all the way in when it comes to answering this question.
Now to say he “answers” this question is just not true. This is what is so great about Pollan. He is not going to give you the answer. He is a layman just like us, and he’s going to take us along for the ride as he expands his experience and perspective on the subject matter. He then drops us off at the end, with a lot of food for thought, and humbly goes on his way leaving us to sort out our own opinion. It's quite refreshing.
The Ride
Pollan educates himself (and us) on the 3 Principle Food Chains that sustain us today (Food Chain = the getting and eating of food)
Industrial, Pastoral, and Hunter Gatherer.
Each pathway starts at the source and culminates in a meal. With the exception of the Pastoral chain being subdivided into two meals, Industrial Organic & Beyond Organic.
My favorites were Beyond Organic, as he works a regenerative farm, and Hunter Gatherer, where he forages mushrooms and hunts wild boar.
Pollan has the ability to make even the most objectively boring topics, the history of corn for example, entertaining and educational. It draws you along effortlessly.
I finished the book feeling grateful for the insight, sad and overwhelmed by the vastness of our industrial food economy, yet excited and motivated to apply my knowledge and perspective.
The lessons he learns procuring, preparing, and sharing his food are one we are very familiar with and long to know more about. It truly is a must read for fellow Windward-Westwardians.
