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

Michael Pollan

Apr 2006 · Penguin

About this ebook

"Outstanding . . . a wide-ranging invitation to think through the moral ramifications of our eating habits." —The New Yorker

One of the New York Times Book Review's Ten Best Books of the Year and Winner of the James Beard Award

Author of This is Your Mind on Plants, How to Change Your Mind and the #1 New York Times Bestseller In Defense of Food and Food Rules

What should we have for dinner? Ten years ago, Michael Pollan confronted us with this seemingly simple question and, with The Omnivore’s Dilemma, his brilliant and eye-opening exploration of our food choices, demonstrated that how we answer it today may determine not only our health but our survival as a species. In the years since, Pollan’s revolutionary examination has changed the way Americans think about food. Bringing wide attention to the little-known but vitally important dimensions of food and agriculture in America, Pollan launched a national conversation about what we eat and the profound consequences that even the simplest everyday food choices have on both ourselves and the natural world. Ten years later, The Omnivore’s Dilemma continues to transform the way Americans think about the politics, perils, and pleasures of eating.

Ratings and reviews

A great book that gives perspective to the food we eat. It is certainly not an easy thing to eat your regular "treat" food or cheap food after reading. I only recommend this book for strong minded people. I love the unscientific nature of this book as well. The science of biology is way too young for us to trust in the same way we trust chemistry or physics. So what we have left is the tradition of eating simple food.

You need to be careful how you read this book, but if nothing else, it's thoroughly entertaining. It's a deeply insightful look into how a lot of American food is produced. Pollan does a good job not preaching too much, although it's not hard to see where he stands. Definitely a great read to help understand the origins of most of our food, although it's certainly short on suggestions of what should change, globally or on a personal level. But perhaps that's the whole point; it's difficult.

This was a great read! I was hooked as he elegantly walked me through the horrible and then amazing ways we can feed ourselves in such a diverse world.

About the author

Michael Pollan is the author of seven previous books, including Cooked, Food Rules, In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemma and The Botany of Desire, all of which were New York Times bestsellers. He's also the author of the audiobook Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World. A longtime contributor to the New York Times Magazine, he also teaches writing at Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley. In 2010, TIME magazine named him one of the one hundred most influential people in the world.