In January 2007, The New York Times Magazine published an essay by Michael Pollan. The article was titled Unhappy Meals and is a follow-up to his acclaimed 2006 book The Omnivore's Dilemma. The book is a 400 page answer to the seemingly simple question he puts forth in the first sentence: "What should we have for dinner?" He addresses America's National eating disorder, "As a culture we seem to have arrived at a place where whatever native wisdom we may have had about eating has been replaced by confusion and anxiety."The book follows four meals and their journey through three very different food-chains, the Industrial, the Organic and the Personal (Hunter Gatherer). For what it's worth, it is my opinion that Pollan, more than anyone, has got his "finger on the pulse" in these times of ever-conflicting opinions and attitudes surrounding diet, food science, agriculture and what it means to eat in, live in, and contribute to a food culture in the twenty-first century. His entertaining and accessible writing style refuses to cross into the realm of condescension or preaching as he addresses issues wide and varied. These issues mostly focus on how food gets from the farm to our plates and how we might be better off if we made more informed decisions about our place in the food chain.
If you eat, I highly recommend The Omnivore's Dilemma.
At least check out these essays:
Unhappy Meals - A follow-up essay to the Omnivore's Dilemma
No Bar Code - An excerpt from The Omnivore's Dilemma
An Animal's Place - The essay that planted the seed for the book
LIsten to an interview with Michael Pollan on National Public Radio.
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