The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals *Very Good*

Very Good: Unread, has some cover wear. Multiple copies are available.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780143038580
Type: Paperback

Repackaged for its tenth anniversary, The Omnivore’s Dilemma continues to revolutionize the way Americans think about the politics, perils, and pleasures of eating

Bestselling author Michael Pollan explores the ecology of eating to unveil why we consume what we consume in the 21st century.

Eating is one of the most important ways people both shape the environment and define themselves. It is a crucial frontier where the human and natural intersect and transform one another. It is through eating—the most fundamental of all our desires—that we experience our most potent and intimate involvement with nature. The Omnivore’s Dilemma is Michael Pollan’s study of the human act of eating from an ecological, rather than purely anthropological, perspective. Species are largely defined by what they eat and what eats them. Yet our own eating is hardly ever viewed through the same ecological lens; that is, with an eye to the co-evolution of humans and the species they eat, and the food chains that connect them.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma is divided into three parts, one for each of the food chains that we are a part of: industrialized food, alternative food, and individual hunting/gathering. In each section Michael Pollan discusses the history of the food in that chain and our developing relationship to it.