Sunday, June 04, 2006

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I didn't expect to learn much from Michael Pollan's new book, _The Omnivore's Dilemma_ - since I write and talk regularly about the problems of industrial agriculture, local food production and sustainability, I thought that while I'd probably enjoy his writing (I took a great deal of pleasure in his prior books on gardening), his book would be enlightening to a rather different audience than myself. But, in fact, I did learn a great deal. Pollan's gift is to entertainingly present complexities, without being weighed down by his own excellent scholarship - it is a gift, to know that much about something and to know which bits of evidence will compell and which will merely bore. He's an enormously erudite guy, without being even slightly dull. Several people I know who are far less engaged by food issues than I say they found it compelling and readable.

I will add up front, that one of the two things that most irritated me about this book was that in the mid-1980s, Margaret Visser, a brilliant food writer, wrote a very similar book, _Much Depends on Dinner_. Neither the book nor the author were particularly obscure - the book won several awards, and Visser went on to write another one about table manners (great book, btw, and highly recommended), and the books were published by Pollan's own publisher. And yet, Pollan's book does not cite or acknowledge the book, even though many of the chapters (those on chicken and corn especially) were very similar in their approach and analysis. Someone, either Pollan in his research (which, I think, was otherwise good), or his editor missed something - because the concept of eating a meal and being outraged by the history of its context is not his. Visser's book, particularly the chapter on rice, which I read in high school, was my biggest early influence in thinking about food, so it rankles me (even though these things happen in books) that Pollan ignored her.

But returning to the main point, I did learn a great deal from Pollan - I found out, among other things, exactly what Xanthan gum is (hadn't you always wondered, even if you knew it couldn't be good?), made a connection I'd never perceived before between the widespread alcoholism in America in the 19th century and the widespread obesity of today (both due to the need to use up agricultural excesses of corn) and heard as concise and compelling an account of the complexities of farm subsidies as I've heard before. I hadn't thought, for example that anyone could give me any more reasons not to eat at McDonalds, but Pollan added a couple.

The first section of the book traces a meal at McDonalds back to its basic ingredient - corn. From the corn that feeds the chickens to the xanthan gum in the milkshake to the sweetener in the ketchup and oil in which the fries are cooked, McDonalds is mostly corn. Since Fast Food Nation and the other exposes, I don't think there's anyone who cares who doesn't know how gross fast food is, and Pollan admirably stays away from the yuckiness factor (not that there isn't reason to go there, but it has been rather overdone of late). Instead, he goes to the aesthetic one, accusing Americans who eat fast food of having become like koalas, capable of absorbing only corn, to terrible cost. In some sense, as someone who likes to eat, his description of our reliance upon (and the costs thereof) corn is more grotesque than any expose of slaughterhouses could be.

He then describes the history of two organic meals, one of them bought on a trip to whole foods, and an industrially produced organic meal, the other local, sustainable and produced to a large degree from Joel Salatin's Polyface farm, where he acted as reporter/farm hand for a week. It may be here that Pollan's book is most valuable, because it makes a distinction that your average Mom who buys at Whole foods has never made - that industrial organic food is more industrial than organic. This book has been roundly hyped on NPR and in the New York Times, and has the potential to change a lot of minds - and despite my later critiques, I will be enormously grateful if Pollan can simply convince people to look beyond the word organic and think about the costs of their food to the environment and the people who grow it. This is a potentially influential book, and Pollan does not make the mistake that many, many food writers make, of reading the word "organic" to mean sustainable.

While acknowledges that large scale, organic, industrial food is better than nothing, he doesn't cut it a lot of slack for its drenching in fossil fuels, use and sometimes misuse of migrant labor, and general unsustainability. Perhaps his best writing in the book is when he attempts to analyze whether it is possible to grow food sustainably and well on any scale at all, and when he concludes that you can't, someone like me, who is trying to grow food on a small scale, looks up ready to cheer. Because such a conclusion should lead inevitably to the next step - ie, to the idea that the only solution to the problem of industrial agriculture is that a lot more people have to grow food, both for sale and at home. But he never quite gets there, and that may be the great flaw of the book. Still, however, I think that the line that the distinctions Pollan does draw are deeply helpful, and could potentially change things a great deal.

In the final section, Pollan eats a meal that he has hunted, or gathered, or grown himself. In doing this, he spends a lot of time coming to terms with hunting and meat eating (he kills his own chicken for dinner at Polyface farm, and also purchases a steer destined for McDonalds, although its final end is as much of a mystery as such things could possibly ever be). Here is where, I expected, Pollan will figure out how we might reasonably eat, humanely and sustainably. But in fact, the last chapter could be described as "Yuppie Jewish guy goes hunting for the first time" - and not just any kind of hunting, but hunting for wild boar in the California mountains with a bunch of European chefs bent on recreating the food of their homelands for Chez Panisse. Pollan may be violating the traditions of his Jewish upbringing (Jews don't hunt, not just because they are often urbanites, but because the laws of kashruth forbid it, and the sense of it as unfitting has lingered long past the observation of the law in other respects for many Jews), but he never actually leaves his class behind. And that is one of the deeper problems of the book - the meal he seeks to make is not a deer burger and homemade potato fries, but wine-braised leg of boar with boar liver pate and cherry something or other (admittedly, it sounded terrific).

Intermittently throughout the book, Pollan attempts to deal with the problem of elitism - whether or not sustainable food is yuppie food. And there's a legitimate case to be made that there is. Pollan, of course, points out the illogic both of what we spend on food (less than anyone in the world) and the externalities that are not figured into the cost of the McDonalds meal, but he never gets down and dirty with the question of class. He quotes Joel Salatin on the subject that regulation adds more to his cost than organic production, notes the costs of meals and that Salatin's customers are mixed in economic situation, but he never fully addresses who it is who mostly eats fast food and who it is who mostly eats organic, and the all-important whys of that question.

When Pollan finally gets down to the ultimate local meal, the chapter is mostly about his angst over killing animals and meat eating (although it was fun to watch Pollan duke it out intellectually with Peter Singer), but it all gets played out over a meal with class overtones so profound and powerful that you cannot escape them. Going boar hunting with a sicilian chef doesn't seem to have much relevance to going deer hunting with a bunch of blue collar guys who live next door, nor is the meal he plans to produce something that anyone could make and eat very often. Speaking as someone who does not hunt (that kosher thing) but whose father did, and who believes that human predation is a perfectly normal thing, and preferrable, say, to having lyme disease from an excess of white-tailed deer (oh, it isn't that easy, of course, but I'll write more on vegetarianism and meat eating another time), I think Pollan ends up using the meal he decided to make as a way of choosing to avoid the logical conclusion of his writing, and the book is the poorer for it. The closing chapter is not about how we could eat, but about the impossibility of producing our own food, and, to a large degree, about the impossibility of even eating sustainably. And I think to a large degree that's because he chose a meal that is unreproducable for millions - as opposed to the simple, ordinary chicken and corn or french fries of his organic and conventional prior meals.

His conclusions, drawn from his experiences on Salatin's farm and of hunting and gathering (and presumably of eating at McDonalds) are implicitly that sustainable eating is never going to happen on any great scale. At the end of his section on Salatin's farm, he likens Salatin to Luther, creating his own new denominations of people for whom food quality and healthfulness matters, small niches of (elitist) people who care about their food in the great wilderness. But implying this suggests that most other people (I wonder who - the ones who eat at McDonalds more and are mostly of a different class?) don't actually care deeply about their food's taste, health and environmental cost.

And his final set of conclusions are deeply disappointing to me, personally. Because he creates the ground work for a fairly simple conclusion - industrial scale food production, whether organic or non, is a failure, a disaster for those who care about ethics or the environment. In a way, it doesn't matter whether what you care about is the suffering of animals (industrial slaughter) or the suffering of humans (malnutrition), the extermination of songbirds (pesticides) or rising cancer rates (pesticides) or the extermination of everyone due to global warming, the conclusion that Pollan expertly and gracefully leads us to - ie, that many more people need to take a role in their own food systems, both by buying locally, encouraging the creation of millions of new small farms instead of an expanding industrial system, and by growing some of their own (or hunting it, or foraging), is finally left off, in the interest of implying that the problem is irresolvable. This, I think, is rather a cheap ending, and an unfair one to the person who has sorted through the complexities of his arguments and analysis and comes out wanting to know what to do next.

Pollan tells us at the very end, referring to his home produced meal and the one from McDonalds, "...these meals are equally unreal and equally unsustainable." But the fact that the home produced meal is unsustainable and unreproducable is his choice - because a dinner of potatoes and eggs with salad, equally local, equally gathered, is sustainable and available to anyone with a bit of backyard if they want it. By implying that self-provisioning is a fantasy in this modern world, Pollan essentially suggests we leave the farming to the farmers - but there simply aren't enough farmers to have a small, local, organic farm everywhere. If we're to reduce our footprint more than anyone can by hopping over to whole foods in the SUV and picking up a box of whole wheat mac and cheese and some organic apples from China, people are going to have to take some responsibility for feeding themselves. No, they don't have to go hunt wild boar. But they might have to grow a garden, or make possible a nearby farm. They might have to encourage their children to grow up to be farmers. And they might have to imagine a world in which feeding oneself is not either a work of magic or a work of industry, but simply the ordinary job that ordinary people have been doing for thousands of years.

Sharon

59 comments:

Gina said...

Excellent review! I haven't read the book yet (it's on the summer reading list), but I much appreciated reading your wonderful insight and analysis of Pollan's "dilemma". Thanks!

Unknown said...

Thank you, Sharon! Beautifully written. I praised Pollan's book on the COMFOOD list serve and Pat Meadows in Pennsylvania referred me to your critique. I am almost finished with Pollan's book. At the New York Sustainable Agriculture Working Group we are working actively on the problem you identify: How to we ensure that everyday people have full access to fresh, natural, affordable food? There are many answers, as you say. We will soon post our own Food Bill policy initiatives on our website. I hope you will give us the benefit of your critique.

Very best wishes,
Hank Herrera
Managing Director
NYSAWG

jewishfarmer said...

Hi Hank -

Thank you so much for the compliments. I'd be fascinated to see what
NYSAWG comes up with. If you could send me a link at my email (jewishfarmer@gmail.com or sharondownonthefarm@yahoo.com), I'd be grateful!

Thanks again!

Sharon

Anonymous said...

Your review is great. I had similar feelings about the ending, having invested so much interest in the book's first 2 parts. It felt empty as a conclusion. And what of us Alaskans with extremely short growing seasons (it is almost April and the ground is still covered in snow & ice). Local farming isn't as practical for us. I felt like I wanted some sort of call to arms by the end of the book. Perhaps, since it wasn't there, that call should come from other sources.

It looks like a few more books are about to be released on this subject too. I recently obtained an ARC for Plenty by Alisa Smith & JB Mackinnon. It releases next month and looks like an interesting read. It might be worth checking out. I will likely review it soon, but my review will most likely be quite short.

a said...

Great review Hank. The Omnivore's Dilemma is an excellent discussion of our eating habits, but I found even more interesting was Raj Patel's new book Stuffed and Starved that shows how our western eating habits are the end step in a global food chain responsible for slave labour, corporate profiteering, and the U.S. government's stronghold on world politics. Absolutely fascinating and terrifying how the politics of health and food will be ultimately responsible for an unsustainable economy fueled by the dilapidation of the very basic qualities of life. Patel writes as an informed, intelligent, activist who has travelled the globe ceaselessly to find the source of our "omnivore's dilemma". Not to take the comment board off topic, I just thought Patel's work is a great place to look even further into the geo-political nature of what is being discussed. Check out: Stuffedandstarved.org

Best Blu ray DVD Ripper | Blu ray Ripper Reviews said...

Try our products It will give you perfect enjoyment

blu-ray dvd ripper,

Blu-ray ripper,

Blu-ray to AVI,

Blu-ray to iPod,

Blu-ray to MP3,

Blu-ray to MP4,

Blu-ray to MPEG,

Blu-ray to PS3,

Blu-ray to WMV,

Blu-ray to HD Video,

Blu-ray DVD Copy,

Anonymous said...

What i do not understood is if truth be told how you are now not really a lot more well-appreciated than you might
be right now. You are so intelligent. You understand
therefore considerably in terms of this subject, produced me
for my part imagine it from so many numerous angles.
Its like men and women don't seem to be fascinated unless it is something to accomplish with Lady gaga! Your personal stuffs outstanding. All the time take care of it up!

Have a look at my webpage; http://wealthwayonline.com

Anonymous said...

I know this if off topic but I'm looking into starting my own weblog and was wondering what all is needed to get set up? I'm
assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
I'm not very web savvy so I'm not 100% positive. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

Look into my website - Air Jordan Femmejordan shoes

Anonymous said...

You could certainly see your enthusiasm within the work you write.

The arena hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who aren't afraid to mention how they believe. Always follow your heart.

my homepage :: Wholesale Jerseyswholesale jerseys

Anonymous said...

Woah! I'm really digging the template/theme of this site. It's simple, yet effective.
A lot of times it's challenging to get that "perfect balance" between user friendliness and visual appeal. I must say that you've
done a great job with this. Additionally, the blog loads super fast for me on Internet explorer.

Superb Blog!

Feel free to visit my web site; air max 90Nike Air Max

Anonymous said...

I like what you guys are usually up too. Such clever work and
exposure! Keep up the very good works guys I've added you guys to blogroll.

Also visit my homepage - NFL Cheap Jerseys discount nfl jersey

Anonymous said...

Hi, I do believe this is a great web site.
I stumbledupon it ;) I am going to return yet again since I bookmarked it.
Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich
and continue to guide other people.

my weblog; Air Maxcold Air

Anonymous said...

For hottest information you have to pay a visit web and on internet I found this site as a finest
web site for hottest updates.

Also visit my weblog Air Jordan Pas Cher

Anonymous said...

Today, I went to the beach front with my kids. I found
a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said "You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear."
She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear.
She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!


Also visit my page Air Jordan Pas Cher

Anonymous said...

It's amazing to go to see this website and reading the views of all mates regarding this piece of writing, while I am also keen of getting knowledge.

Feel free to visit my blog Air Jordan Pas Cher

Anonymous said...

I was curious if you ever considered changing the layout of
your site? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two pictures.
Maybe you could space it out better?

Also visit my weblog: Michael Kors Outlet

Anonymous said...

This information is worth everyone's attention. Where can I find out more?

my site Abercrombie & Fitch

Anonymous said...

Hi there, You have done a fantastic job. I will certainly digg it and personally
recommend to my friends. I'm confident they'll be benefited from this site.


Stop by my weblog ... Air Jordan

Anonymous said...

Nice blog here! Also your website loads up very fast!
What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link
to your host? I wish my website loaded up as quickly as yours lol

Also visit my site ... Air Max Femme

Anonymous said...

Great article! We are linking to this particularly great article on our site.
Keep up the good writing.

Feel free to surf to my web site Sidney Crosby Authentic Jersey

Anonymous said...

Fantastic goods from you, man. I've take into accout your stuff previous to and you are simply extremely great. I actually like what you've
bought right here, certainly like what you are saying and the best way by
which you assert it. You're making it entertaining and you still care for to stay it wise. I can not wait to read much more from you. This is really a great site.

Look at my web page ... Louis Vuitton Bags

Anonymous said...

Hey there, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your blog site in Opera, it looks fine but when opening in Internet
Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads
up! Other then that, wonderful blog!

Here is my site :: louis vuitton outlet online

Anonymous said...

I needed to thank you for this very good read!! I certainly enjoyed every bit of it.
I have you book-marked to check out new stuff you post…

My web-site; Abercrombie & Fitch

Anonymous said...

For most recent information you have to pay a quick
visit web and on internet I found this site as a finest site for latest updates.


my weblog Sito Ufficiale Gucci Borse

Anonymous said...

Hi, i believe that i noticed you visited my web site
thus i came to go back the favor?.I am trying to to find things
to improve my web site!I assume its good enough to use
a few of your concepts!!

My web blog Authentic Mario Lemieux Jersey

Anonymous said...

WOW just what I was looking for. Came here
by searching for backbreaking

Also visit my web page :: Abercrombie & Fitch

Anonymous said...

I have read a few excellent stuff here. Definitely price bookmarking for
revisiting. I surprise how so much attempt you put
to make this sort of fantastic informative website.

Have a look at my blog post Converse All Star

Anonymous said...

What's up Dear, are you actually visiting this web site regularly, if so then you will without doubt take fastidious know-how.

Also visit my blog post; Kris Letang Black Jersey

Anonymous said...

We absolutely love your blog and find nearly all of your post's to be what precisely I'm
looking for. can you offer guest writers to write content for you personally?
I wouldn't mind creating a post or elaborating on a lot of the subjects you write concerning here. Again, awesome web site!

Also visit my web site :: bmi charts

Anonymous said...

Howdy very nice site!! Guy .. Excellent .. Wonderful .. I will bookmark your blog and
take the feeds additionally? I am satisfied to search out numerous helpful information
here in the submit, we need develop more techniques on this regard, thank you
for sharing. . . . . .

Have a look at my blog post Michael Kors Canada

Anonymous said...

Genuinely when someone doesn't know after that its up to other users that they will assist, so here it takes place.

My web blog: Cheap Jerseys

Anonymous said...

Hey I am so delighted I found your weblog, I really found you by error,
while I was browsing on Yahoo for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to
say thanks for a tremendous post and a all round exciting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to look over it all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also added your RSS
feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read
a great deal more, Please do keep up the superb work.


Here is my web-site Evgeni Malkin Authentic Jersey

Anonymous said...

It's impressive that you are getting ideas from this article as well as from our argument made here.

My page - Cheap Jerseys

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact
was once a amusement account it. Glance advanced to more introduced agreeable from you!

However, how can we keep in touch?

my web site - http://www.wsmisports.com

Anonymous said...

This paragraph gives clear idea designed for the new users of
blogging, that genuinely how to do running a blog.


Also visit my web site: NFL Jerseys Cheap

Anonymous said...

Hello! Do you know if they make any plugins to assist with Search Engine Optimization?
I'm trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I'm not
seeing very good gains. If you know of any please share.

Many thanks!

my homepage :: Sidney Crosby Authentic Jersey

Anonymous said...

It's not my first time to pay a visit this web page, i am browsing this site dailly and get good information from here everyday.

My homepage :: Abercrombie Pas Cher

Anonymous said...

Hey there I am so grateful I found your web site, I really
found you by error, while I was looking on Yahoo for something
else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say cheers for a fantastic post and a all round enjoyable blog (I also
love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read through it all
at the moment but I have saved it and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time
I will be back to read more, Please do keep up
the excellent jo.

My page :: www.explorethecapabilities.com

Anonymous said...

Hi there would you mind sharing which blog platform
you're working with? I'm planning to start my own blog in the near future but I'm having a difficult time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and I'm looking for something unique.
P.S My apologies for getting off-topic but I had to
ask!

Feel free to visit my web page; Sac Guess Pas Cher

Anonymous said...

I visited multiple web pages but the audio feature for audio songs existing at
this website is truly marvelous.

Visit my page; Michael Kors Canada

Anonymous said...

Heya are using Wordpress for your blog platform? I'm new to the blog world but I'm trying to
get started and create my own. Do you require any html coding knowledge to
make your own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!


Also visit my webpage :: Michael Kors Outlet

Anonymous said...

Nice blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download
it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog shine.
Please let me know where you got your design.
Thanks a lot

Stop by my web page: Gafas De Sol Oakley

Anonymous said...

I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire
someone to do it for you? Plz reply as I'm looking to create my own blog and would like to know where u got this from. appreciate it

Here is my web page - http://www.tedxyse.com/nike-air-jordan.html

Anonymous said...

Why visitors still use to read news papers when in this technological globe everything is presented
on web?

My weblog Michael Kors Bags

Anonymous said...

Hello there! This post could not be written any better!
Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept
chatting about this. I will forward this article to him.
Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!


Here is my site - Cheap Louis Vuitton Bags

Anonymous said...

Wonderful goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you're just too fantastic. I actually like what you've acquired here, really like what you are saying and
the way in which you say it. You make it enjoyable
and you still take care of to keep it sensible.
I cant wait to read far more from you. This is really a great website.



my page :: Sac Louis Vuitton

Anonymous said...

What's up, for all time i used to check website posts here early in the daylight, for the reason that i enjoy to gain knowledge of more and more.

Look into my page; Louis Vuitton Bags

Anonymous said...

Appreciate the recommendation. Let me try it out.

Check out my web-site - Air Jordan Femme

Anonymous said...

Its like you learn my thoughts! You seem to grasp so much
about this, like you wrote the guide in it or something.
I think that you just can do with a few p.c. to pressure the
message house a bit, but other than that, that is great blog.

A great read. I'll certainly be back.

Have a look at my web blog - Wholesale Jerseys

Anonymous said...

We are a group of volunteers and opening
a new scheme in our community. Your website offered us with valuable info to
work on. You have done an impressive job and our entire community will be grateful to you.


Have a look at my page; continue reading

Anonymous said...

My brother recommended I might like this blog. He was entirely
right. This post truly made my day. You can not imagine simply how
much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!


Look into my blog: Continue reading

Anonymous said...

I really like it when people get together and share opinions.
Great website, keep it up!

My blog post; Bonuses

Anonymous said...

Wow that was odd. I just wrote an really long
comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn't appear. Grrrr... well I'm not writing all
that over again. Regardless, just wanted to say superb blog!



Also visit my weblog :: Chaussures De Foot Pas Cher
*smu-fr.org*

Anonymous said...

Hi there to all, it's in fact a nice for me to pay a quick visit this web site, it contains important Information.

Also visit my webpage teichfilter solar

Anonymous said...

It's very easy to find out any topic on net as compared to textbooks, as I found this article at this web site.

my web-site :: Michael Kors Outlet

Anonymous said...

Hi would you mind sharing which blog platform you're working with? I'm
planning to start my own blog soon but I'm having a difficult time making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I'm looking for something completely unique.
P.S Sorry for getting off-topic but I had to ask!


Feel free to surf to my blog post Nike Air Jordan

Anonymous said...

Howdy would you mind sharing which blog platform you're using? I'm
going to start my own blog soon but I'm having a difficult time choosing between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your layout seems different then most blogs and I'm looking for something unique.
P.S Sorry for being off-topic but I had to ask!

my page :: speedo schwimmbrillen

yanmaneee said...

nike air max
michael kors outlet
adidas stan smith men
kevin durant shoes
adidas stan smith women
michael kors outlet store
michael kors handbags
nike air max 2019
yeezy shoes
jordan shoes

steycough said...

h6m33g3s73 e7g93o4a76 t4m81c3l13 d5s42d2l75 y6l73z5w31 v2b30o8m94