The title of this book was so good, I just used it as my caption. The Omnivore's Dilemma is by Michael Pollan, a Berkeley prof who tends to write books about the intersections of social structrues and biology. In this book, he takes a look at how food is produced for the fast food market, the organic agribusiness industry, and the sustainable eating community. His final chapter follows his quest to hunt and forage for his very own meal.
An interesting read, Pollan includes the usual horror stories about the disgusting treatment of animals in feedlots and industrial chicken houses, and he chronicles the terrible environmental (and epidemiological) effects that these processes are having on our world. He also explores the lesser known ubiquity of corn in our processed and mass market food, and explains some of the economic and digestive pitfalls of relying so heavily on one food source for calories.
The most interesting part of this book is Pollan's exploration of the organic industry. And yes, it is an industry. Granted it started with some fucking dirty California hippies selling mustard greens and spring mix by the side of the road; but success will make a whore of anyone, and those same hippies are now presiding over businesses that have grown large enough to demand ethical compromises such as forcing land, long-distance food distribution chains, etc. It turns out that organic food, when trucked from florida to Vancouver, is really not so environmentally friendly after all. Also, the regulations that that the US (and Canadian) government imposes on the food industry are meant to encourage large companies and big business, where the bottom line is key. Needless to say, this does not encourage farmers to live by the spirit, rather than the letter, of organic regs. Organic, yes. Sustainable, no.
I was also very interested in the discussion about sustainable food chains. Buy locally, without shipping food vast distances. Stay away from monoculture crops. The featured farm (in Virginia, dammit) rotated crops and animals across fields to allow animals to live as natural a life as possible, while making the most of their fertilizing, pesticidal, and aerating capacities. When necessary, a small input of chemical fertilizer or nutrients was added, but only in order to reduce the overall external input into a mostly closed system. It sounded like a beautifully balanced system; definitely worth a read.
It actually impressed me so much that I have signed our house up for organics delivery from a local company that buys locally when possible. I may also plant things this summer that will be nice to eat rather than nice to look at. After reading this book, I could care less about organic content; it's the sustainability of supporting a local food chain that i'm after. I strongly believe that one day we will not be able to truck food thousands of miles; in the meantime, we would be smart to support and protect local farming practices. One day we'll need them.
