A Natural History of Four Meals

by

Michael Pollan

A Book review by Kenneth Wilson “The Gardening Whisperer”

Michael Pollan has written nine (9) books and 13 essays all having a theme about food. Mr. Pollan’s parents both are accomplished writers. The book is very polished and he tells his story as if he were talking to you over a dining room table.

Omnivore’s Delight is a story of four (4) ways our food might reach our dinner table. Within each food chain, he details how food moves from one stage to the next and the complex happenings at each move. He personally went through each of the four (4) food chains telling his story as the food moved along. One (1) the current industrial system, two (2) the big organic operations, three (3) the local self-sufficient farm and four (4) the hunter-gatherer. In each, he discusses the good, bad and the ugly of that system.

He tells how the governments’ involvement has added regulations that have increased the cost of the food but with subsidized different stages in the process to made it cheaper to produce. He shows that certain companies control how our food. He also tells how most people do not know or care about how what eat is processed or how it reaches our tables.

If you are interested in what you eat you might want to read this book. Mr. Pollan also points out that truly local food is better food to consume, while hunter-gatherer might be the very best it is very time consuming and is only seasonal.

In the back of the book is an extensive list of sources that he has gained his information. It is a must-read book to gain knowledge of our food chains and how it broken down to help large corporations within America.

© KEN WILSON
WWW.gardeningwhisperer.com