Summary of the Omnivore’s Dilemma

HumanEthologyBulletin,October2007 The Omnivores Dilemma A Natural History of quaternary Meals ByMichaelPollan PenguinPress,NewYork,NY. 2006,450pp. ISBN1? 59420? 082? 3Hdbk. ,$26. 95 Reviewed by William F. McKibbin and Todd K. Shackelford Florida Atlantic University, Dept. of Psychology, Davie, FL 33314 regular army E-mail emailprotected edu, emailprotected edu TheOmnivoresDilemmaisthelatest take holdbyMichaelPollan,best cognizeforhispreviousbest? sellingwork,TheBotanyofDesire. Here,Pollanhascraftedawell? composeandenjoyable explorationofhumansrelationshipwith pabulum.Thebookiswrittenforalayaudience,butis appreciablebyall. Pollanbeginsbyfocusingonaseeminglysimplequestion,Whatshouldwehavefordinner? Theanswer,itseems,isnotsosimpleforomnivoreslikeus. Pollanguidesthereaderby examiningthethreemajortypesof provenderproductionanddividesthebookintothesethree areas Industrial(focusingonthe in advance(p)foodindustrysrelianceoncorn),Pastoral(focusingon organic fertilizerfoodproduction,bothb igandsmallscale),andPersonal(focusingonin person huntingandgatheringonesfood).Thefirst,Industrialsectionofthebookdemonstratesthatnearlyeverythingwe leasein Westernsociety,particularlyinAmerica,isinsomewayderivedfromcorn. Theprocessed foodsthatseemastapleofmodernlivingarederivedlargely(ifnotwholly)fromcorn. Even foodssuchaseggs,chicken,fish,andbeefareessentiallyderivedfromcorncows,chickens, andfisharecoercedtoconsumeafoodthattothemishighlyunnatural. Ifw