About this title: Pollan writes about the ecology of the food humans eat and why--what it is, in fact, that we are eating. Discussing industrial farming, organic food, and what it is like to hunt and gather food, this is a surprisingly honest and self-aware account of the evolution of the modern diet.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780143038580ISBN:0143038583
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. like new trade paperback. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. With dust jacket. 464 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Fair. 1594132054 SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. ORDERS SHIP WITHIN 1-2 BUSINESS DAYS. MAY CONTAIN HIGHLIGHTING AND/OR WRITING. ALL USED BOOK ARE LISTED AS ACCEPTABLE BUT MAY BE GOOD/VERY GOOD/LIKE NEW. read more
Description: Fair. 0143038583 Former Library book. The Book shows wear and there are SIGNIFICANT Markings throughout the book. The pages' edges are dirty/stained. A Great Book! 100% Money Back Guarantee! ! ! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780143038580ISBN:0143038583
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Paperback, has been read but remains in good condition. Not marked up. Page ends have slight staining. See our customer image #8737. read more
Binding: S Trade Paperback
Publisher: Penguin, NY
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780143038580ISBN:0143038583
Description: Very Good. Contents: Our national eating disorder--I. Industrial: corn. The plant: corn's conquest--The farm--The elevator--The feedlot: making meat--The processing plant: making complex foods--The consumer: a republic of fat--The meal: fast food--II. Pastoral: grass. All flesh is grass--Big organic--Grass: thirteen ways of looking at a pasture--The animals: practicing complexity--Slaughter: in a glass abattoir--The market: "Greetings from the non-barcode people"--The meal: grass fed--III. ... read more
Description: Good. Used copy-Because of our high volume, we can not accurately describe each book, so we list the MINIMUM condition you can expect; most are better than the condition listed. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780747586838ISBN:0747586837
Description: New. What shall we have for dinner? Should we choose the organic apple or the conventional? If organic, local or imported? Wild fish or farmed? Low-carb or low-cal? We can eat what nature has to offer, but deciding what we should eat stirs anxiety. This wo... read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
"This is one of the scariest books I've ever read. The content will shock and disturb you enough to change the way you live. It will mess you up. that could be a good thing but don't ever say you haven't been warned! peace"
"After you read this you may want to become a vegetarian.At a minimum, read all labels on all store purchases and only buy organic, grass fed beef. Stay away from High Fructose Corn Syrup (in everything) and watch for all the corn products, as Pollan says that the food chemists have manufactured from the corn carbohydrate molecules: citric and lactic acid, glucose; fructose; maltodextrin; ethanol; sorbitol; mannitol; xanthan gum; modified and unmodified starch; dextrins and cyclodextrins and MSG...
"It's not every day you read a book that threatens to change your life. I use the word "threaten" very deliberately, because they are changes that I know I'm going to find challenging.
Michael Pollan challenges his readers to examine their food a little closer, to consider where it comes from. And it's a logical request I think. We can spend days searching for the perfect doctor or mechanic, but how much time do we take to really think about our food? Do you know where your steak came from? Is your asparagus from a nearby farm, or far-flung Argentina? Are your peaches organic, and if so, what does that really mean? Most of us have no idea how to answer these questions.
In most cases, the answers are simple. Most of our food likely comes from a massive industrial farm or feed-lot hundreds of miles away, fed by incredible amounts of fossil fuels -- the fertilizer, the machines used for harvesting, the trucks it took to transport the food to your local mega-mart, to name just a few uses of fossil fuel. Pollan's descriptions of these farms (and in particular, the feed lots) can be quite disturbing. However, Pollan does not outright condemn this "industrial food chain." He concedes that it would be difficult to feed billions of people inexpensively without it. Instead, he advocates having several different avenues for delivering food to our tables, and he describes several alternatives. It is up to the reader to determine how they want to eat.
As for me, my eyes have been opened to the appeal of "eating locally," where possible. (Emphasis on "where possible." There aren't too many oranges grown in Idaho.) By eating foods produced as close to my home as possible, I support the local economy, less fossil fuels are used, and the food should have fewer preservatives, hormones, and other chemical ingredients. Best of all, the food should be fresher and more flavorful. Yes, it will cost more, but I think it will be worth it. At least I'm willing to try it. Consider it an experiement. I've already found local sources of milk, eggs and meat that I'm going to try.
I found Pollan's writing engaging and easy to read. (Disclaimer: I am a huge nerd, and the topic really spoke to me. If you don't like science, you may not find this book as fascinating.)
A few words of warning: if evolution makes you uncomfortable, you may not like this book, as it often talks about the evolution of plants, animals and humans. Also, there were two or three instances where objectionable language was used."
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