Michael Pollan on Becoming Responsible Eaters

Today as I was journeying hither and yon (picking up rugs from being cleaned, dropping off piles of stuff at Salvation Army, shipping belated birthday presents, the flotsam and jetsam of moving errands), I turned on our local NPR station. It was Fresh Air, with Terry Gross, and to my utter delight she was interviewing one of my favorite authors: Michael Pollan. Pollan wrote The Botany of Desire, among other things, a book that sits at the top of my Natural History list. Pollan is a professor of science and environmental journalism at University of California at Berkeley, and one of those writers (John McPhee is another) who can write about anything and make it irresistably fascinating.

Even though we are stripping our shelves of books, lightening the load of book boxes we move from place to place, it became obvious today that I'd have to buy another book. Pollan's brand new one is The Omnivore's Dilemma: a Natural History of Four Meals. The book has its own website here, where you can read the introduction and first chapter, as well as a synopsis and some reviews. From the website, to give you an idea about this book:

The omnivore’s dilemma has returned with a vengeance, as the cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet confronts us with a bewildering and treacherous food landscape. What’s at stake in our eating choices is not only our own and our children’s health, but the health of the environment that sustains life on earth.
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In this groundbreaking book, one of America’s most fascinating, original, and elegant writers turns his own omnivorous mind to the seemingly straightforward question of what we should have for dinner. To find out, Pollan follows each of the food chains that sustain us—industrial food, organic or alternative food, and food we forage ourselves—from the source to a final meal, and in the process develops a definitive account of the American way of eating. His absorbing narrative takes us from Iowa cornfields to food-science laboratories, from feedlots and fast-food restaurants to organic farms and hunting grounds, always emphasizing our dynamic coevolutionary relationship with the handful of plant and animal species we depend on. (My emphasis.)

And, here's what another of my favorite writers, Ruth Reichl (Editor in Chief of Gourmet Magazine, and author of three wonderful food memoirs), has to say about The Omnivore's Dilemma:

Every time you go into a grocery store you are voting with your dollars, and what goes into your cart has real repercussions on the future of the earth. But although we have choices, few of us are aware of exactly what they are. Michael Pollan’s beautifully written book could change that. He tears down the walls that separate us from what we eat, and forces us to be more responsible eaters. Reading this book is a wonderful, life-changing experience.

To listen to this afternoon's program if you missed it, go here: Dinner, An Author Considers the Source. Pollan is as articulate and entertaining verbally as he is in print. This looks to be an important environmental resource, with emphasis on organic foods, but more importantly, on local foods. He considers the energy component in agriculture, the petroleum products used on farms, as well as those used in the transport of foods from farm to market.

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