The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

An engaging and informative read, the Omnivore’s Dilemma takes the reader along on the author’s journey from field to meal in four different ways.

The reader is a bird on the shoulder while the author travels the same journey your food takes from field to plate.

For the first meal we travel from field to feedlot to a “meal on the go”. The author’s family experiences a McDonald’s meal during a drive in the car.  He chose a burger, his son was very happy with the chance to scarf some chicken nuggets and the author’s wife resigned herself to a salad.

For the second meal our journey moves from “industrial organic” through to plate. The author creates a dinner from items at Whole Foods market with a chicken as the main course.  He gets philosophic about the packaging and the current marketing strategy of feel-good stories used to sell products.

The third meal meanders from farm field to abattoir to dinner table.  Pollan dishes up a dinner with several items from the farm where he spent a week working alongside the farmer and family.  The section about the abattoir may be too much for some people.  I remember I thought of one of my vegetarian friends and considered that she may not be able to read this section.

The final meal, meal number four has the reader follow as the author attempts to hunt and forage for his meal.  The author learns along the way many lessons about food and about self.

The first portion of this book was a great eye opener if a bit dry.  Once we got past the feedlot my interest piqued and I had trouble putting the book down.  I found the processes fascinating and am looking forward to his next book.