The Omnivore’s Dilemma

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, is a book about the American way of eating. He covers three main areas: industrial/corn, pastoral/grass, and personal/the forest. Each section focuses on a different way that we, as Americans, make decisions on what and how we are going to eat. I came up with what my expectations of the book will be; an interesting topic, an easy read, and new knowledge. I understand that it is non-fiction and will look for topics discussed and facts listed to be swayed towards the author’s way of thinking. I made sure to keep all of these expectations in mind when I started reading the first three chapters of the first section, “Corn”.

The beginning of the Corn section, Pollan brings us into the supermarket and paints a very clear picture of how it looks, in any supermarket, as you enter. First you’re introduced to the fruits and vegetables, next it’s the many isles of packaged/processed foods and in the back there are cold cuts/processed meats. It is where he starts to make his point about how the omnivore has too many food choices, but particularly that most choices contain corn. The animals are fed corn; high fructose corn syrup is used in most foods, including soda, candy and cereals; there are so many different names for corn in food labels that you wouldn’t even know you are eating it. There was also interesting information about consumption of corn in America compared to Mexico. Pollan refers to Mexicans in the book as “corn walkers” because in the past, they consumed more corn than other countries. After research was done, it was found that Americans actually consume more. I was shocked by this finding. The reason for this being that corn can be made into anything and it is used widely because of its sustenance.

I got lost in the pages that followed. Pollan started talking about how corn pollinates and the different parts, but for some reason, without a picture or diagram in front of me, I got confused about...