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The Omnivore’s Dilemma
I recently finished devouring Michael Pollan’s endlessly fascinating The Omnivore’s Dilemma. In it, he traces food from origin to plate through several food chains, from fast food to foraged foods. I admonish you to read this book. Even if you don’t buy all of Pollan’s politics (which I don’t), you will never look at another meal the same way.
There were, however, a few things that I found a bit unsatisfying about the book:
Pollan strongly supports eating the localest and organicest foods you can, for both health and environmental reasons. And, while I can certainly get behind that, as someone who spends a good portion of his food budget at the farmer’s market, one thing bothered me throughout the whole book
How does this help the vast majority of people in America who aren’t yuppies with ample budgets to spend on whole foods? Pollan plays lip service to this question by pointing out that all Americans spend a smaller portion of their income on food now than 20 years ago, but I would think that fact would be small comfort for people who are just getting by. He also points out that the industrial corn economy is heavily subsidized, so the price you pay for a Big Mac or a Twinkie doesn’t reflect the true cost. Again, that doesn’t do a lot of practical good for the folks living day to day.
Speaking of the corn economy, I also think there’s a very libertarian message buried in the book that Pollan doesn’t fully grasp. Pollan points out that the industrial corn economy, which is damaging to the environment, the health of people who eat from that food chain, and even the corn farmers themselves, is pretty much the direct result of a Nixon-era change to the government’s farm policy. The same government that’s declaring an obesity epidemic is responsible for the policies that have led to that epidemic, as well as the tremendous pollution and ecosystem damage caused by industrial agriculture. It’s a classic example of government meddling in free markets that does far more harm than good.
Yet, Pollan seems to think that our food system is no place for markets to operate. We just need the right governmental policies. Likewise, he talks about how the growth of both farmer’s markets and big organic has emerged to meet the growing demands in response to the industrial economy. And how their growth is only hamstrung by more governmental policies. But somehow it’s only the organic farmer who is the hero of his story who really makes the connection.
That said, ultimately, I don’t think Pollan wrote the book to force feed you his organic agenda. I think the real takeaway from the book is that, whether we decide to follow Pollan’s progressive (and expensive) lead, whether we’re happy to keep on eating from the processed food aisle, or whether we land somewhere in between, we should all be paying closer attention to something as important as where our food comes from.
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