The Omnivore's Dilemma: Chapters 13-16

In these four chapters of The Omnivore's Dilemma I read about the American diet in a biological, historical, cultural and a economic standpoint. The combination of all of these different aspects to the way we eat was fascinating. Salatin's prospective on "irresponsibly priced" food brings to mind the question of how we are actually paying for what we eat; the cheaper the food, the more you pay in health, and the higher the risk of some disastrous health defect. Another interesting factor was his observation that perhaps in this new modern age we have, in fact, placed other unnecessary items above food as our top priorities. How foolish to think that testnig on our new iPhone 4G is more important than eating the three basic meals that essentially keep you alive and running on a daily basis...

Chapter 14 was short but a good read nonetheless. It makes sense that we should feel more satisfied and way safer about what we are eating if we know exactly where it came from and how it was made. It just makes it taste way better too...

Chapter 15, an almost historical chapter of information, was an engaging section about the original form of food accumulation. The ancient hunter-gatherer, who picked his way through a variety of plants and such to find those edible arrangements, is the beginning of a food system that would go to such extremes to make this easier that it would eventually corrupt eating on the whole. It's true, however, that this hunting and gathering deal would not work nearly well enough to feed the ever-increasing population of America, much less the world. Pollan notes how great the ratio of people to land is, and that there is not nearly enough natural land to produce enough for the people there are. Thus, the omnivore's dilemma...

So to think, as Chapter 16 points out, that in all the years we have been...well, eating, we have never truly established a strong food culture. Our lists of things that are edible keeps expanding, while somehow at the same time shrinking. This unrooted system leaves an opening for food companies to be able to tell us how and what and where to eat. Those big companies now control our diet's, and by doing so also control many aspects of social structure. We give them what they need to succeed, and they take every advantage that they can. Surprising? I don't think so either... Another huge contribution to the omnivore's dilemma.

Ella