Reading The Omnivore's Dilemma? Talk About It Here

[Tracy]

The "Keene is Reading" book choice for 2008 is The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan. Let's talk about it here.

[Tracy]

Just got my copy of Omnivore's Dilemma today and have only read the first few pages. Already I question some of what Pollan says, but I like where he's heading in general. For instance, he says: "The absurdity of the situation [our culture's anxiety and confusion about what we eat] became inescapable in the fall of 2002, when one of the most ancient and venerable staples of human life abruptly disappeared from the American dinner table. I'm talking of course about bread. Virtually overnight, Americans changed the way they eat. A collective spasm of what can only be described carbophobia seized the country, supplanting the era of lipophobia [fear of fat] dating to the Carter administration." (Pollan 1-2)
Yes, the nation got pretty hysterical about eliminating carbohydrates...but bread did not in fact disappear. People talked about not eating bread, and the many people who would have been dieting for weight loss switched to a low carb diet, but it's not like you couldn't find the stuff.

[Nicole Caulfield]

Haha. Bread is huge still. I mean look at the sandwich. We just pile our bread with our meat and veggies.

When was this book written?

[Brett]

I read Omnivore's Dilemma last winter. It was slow going on occasion, but an extremely valuable read. Don't get too caught up on the bread comment, as it's not central to the book. ;-) Once you get past the first chapter, I think it'll be easier to dig into Pollan's eye-opening explorations of industrial agriculture -- and its alternatives -- in this country...

[Tracy]

Thanks for the advice not get bogged down, Brett. I've read further now and can already see that you're right and it will indeed be a valuable read.
I've been thinking quite a bit about Pollan's observations that we in the US are "corn people" and how much of our food is a direct or indirect product of corn. I know this image will stick with me for a long time.

[Tracy]

Well into Omnivore's Dilemma now and increasingly impressed. Pollan explains government corn subsidizies in a way that even I finally understand (don't know if I could explain it myself, but at least I get his explanation). It's amazing how ubiquitious corn is industrial food and how little individual corn farmers profit.
Here's one fun fact: If you spend a dollar on eggs, forty cents of that dollar go to the farmer who produced the eggs. If you spend a dollar on cereal, four cents go to the farmer who produced the grain.
And don't even get me started on corn-fed beef. Glad I haven't eaten meat since 1986.
I am still trying to figure out how to incorporate the book into my two courses (Intro to Women's Studies, and Thinking and Writing 101: A Blog of One's Own.) Hope I will hear ideas from teachers about this, since the ideal is for Keene State College instructors to incorporate the book chosen for the "Keene is Reading" program into their courses.

[Tracy]

I've gotten to the chapters about Polyface Farm and intensive rotational "grass farming." Fascinating efficiency!

[Brett]

Reading about Polyface Farm convinced me to incorporate local, grass-fed meat into my diet, after many years as a fairly strict vegetarian.

[Tracy]

I know, it puts a new face on meat eating for me--that it can be humane and a good use of land. Can you get local, grass-fed meat in this area? (I'm not ready to leave my veg diet yet, but my whole household isn't vegetarian.)

[Brett]

Can you get local, grass-fed meat in this area?

You have to seek it out, but it is possible. Hannah Grimes Marketplace carries some locally-grown meats, as does the Brattleboro Co-Op. You can also find it at both the Keene and Brattleboro Farmer's Markets. (Stonewall Farm sells pasture-fed hamburger at the Keene market.) There are a couple of restaurants in nearby towns that regularly feature local meat too -- the Hope & Olive and People's Pint in Greenfield, MA, and the Riverview Cafe in Brattleboro. I usually ask the servers which meat is local on any given day, and factor that into my mealtime decision-making. The meatloaf at the Hope & Olive is TO DIE FOR.

[Tracy]

Wow, I didn't know about all these options--thanks!

[Tracy]

Just finished reading The Omnivore's Dilemma. Can't believe how little I knew about mushrooms, for instance, that they aren't, strictly speaking, plants?!
This was a very worthwhile read; glad the Keene is Reading program kind of twisted my arm into reading it. It's one of those books where I'm sad it's over when I get to the last page. I'm downloading another audiobook, the Botany of Desire from Audible.com right now so I can get another Michael Pollan fix. Hope it's nearly as good!

[Brett]

Botany of Desire is a great book too; equally as eye-opening as Omnivore's Dilemma, but in an entirely different way.