Thread 1: In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan describes what the omnivore’s dilemma actually is. He begins his book as a naturalist in a supermarket trying to decide “what to eat?”. This question is harder to answer without asking where the food originates. Knowing where food comes from is very difficult, unless it is locally grown or clearly states it on the package. Processed food is more complicated to understand where it comes from.
In the corn section of The Omnivore's Dilemma the author, Michael Pollan, goes on a journey to follow the industrial food chain and on his journey he finds out that corn is in nearly everything we eat. Since it is fed to cows, salmon and other animal corn ends up in places we would not think of like hamburgers, milk and soda. In one of the chapters Pollan tells the readers that for every bushel of corn it cost one dollar more to produce it than to buy it. The abundance of corn has caused the price to go down, however farmers are still producing corn due to government subsidies, even though they necessarily won’t make a profit off of it. This in turn keeps farmers in business but not out of debt.
Industrial food chain is all around us. At Mcdonald's , Jewel Osco. It also cheaper than most other food chains. Michael Pollan writes about industrial food chain in his book Omnivore's Dilemma. The industrial food chain, by contrast, feeds the most Americans and sends its food on the farthest journey the McDonald's cheeseburger, which Pollan chooses as his representative industrial meal, is eaten in California,The best food chain to feed American families is industrial food chain because cheaper, easier to get from almost anywhere, it continues what farmers are already doing.
Is eating meat a detrimental threat to the environment? This debate over meat’s involvement in the global warming crisis was what inspired Nicolette Hahn Niman to write, “The Carnivore’s Dilemma.” Niman hoped writing, “The Carnivore’s Dilemma,” would cause her audience to understand that eating meat, raised on traditional farms, was a superior alternative to vegetarianism. Niman supported her claim by explaining how industrialized farms and vegetarians produce more of the three greenhouse gases that caused global warming, than that produced by traditional farms. Niman’s article fell short of being effective due to flaws in her supporting evidence and conclusion.
“Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat”, is a famous quote by the well known philosopher Socrates, who believed this is the perspective we should take when we are eating food. Unfortunately, the times have changed and so has the way we eat. We no longer have to go hunting for our food, or grow crops to receive all of our fruits and vegetables. Because we have become a society that has grown into the new world of technology, there would be no need to rely on ourselves for what we need-- we can simply gather our resources from other people. In the book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, written by Michael Pollan, takes us on a journey full of concerns of the “Food Industrial Complex”.
Eating Towards Global Warming Global warming has been a topic of debate for many years now. A more recent argument is that food production is a key contributing factor to the global warming epidemic. In the article “A Carnivore’s Dilemma”, Nicolette Niman provides an insight to the logistics being said in these statements.
In Blake Hurst’s “The Omnivore’s Delusion: Against the Agri-Intellectuals,” he opposes the accusations made by tofu-eating, recycled-toilet-paper-using, self-starving Michael Pollan and his followers. Throughout “The Omnivore’s Delusion…,” Hurst mentions how methods of farming have evolved to match demands of produce. The author states that “Only ‘Industrial farming’ can possibly meet the demands of an increasing population and increased demand for food as a result of growing incomes” (Hurst 4). This quote essentially means that “Industrial Farming” is the most efficient way to farm for today’s population level. A second point that is made by Hurst is that changes made by today’s farming are necessary.
Do you ever wonder how our food starts as sunlight and ends up on our plates? Michael Pollan takes the reader on a journey to show just that. The path energy travels from the sun to our plates may be more complex than you think for it is not a straight line, but a bird’s nest. Human intervention creates a disorder within nature entangling the problem even more. In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan uses a variety of sentence structures ranging from fast and aggressive calling out the system with a tone that shows his emotions towards the situation, to a slower more conversational approach that shows he really is just trying to help us.
With the United States having numerous amounts of health issues and food outbreaks yearly, it is safe to say that we need a hopeful idea for the future to bring healthy and natural foods. Many people believe industrial/factory farming should continue to increase, but it’s quite the contrary, industrial/factory farming needs to be put to end and the only type of farming that should be expanding is the system used in Polyface farm, which is holon farming. In the text, “The Animals: Practicing Complexity”, by Michael Pollan, he discusses Joel Salatins’ Polyface farm and its complex system. All the animals depend on each other and Salatin is basically imitating a natural ecosystem where there is no such thing as waste. However, in the text, “What
He used the average household income of local African farmers as an example of the ineffectiveness of organic agriculture; however, his views have created a number of opponents to his ideas. For example, Ann Lappe, author of “Diet for a Hot Planet” had this to say, “Paarlberg doesn’t get what it means to be organic. Organic farming isn’t just about not using chemicals. Organic farmers improve output by tapping a sophisticated understanding of biological systems to build soil fertility and manage pests and weeds through techniques that include double-dug beds, intercropping, composting, manures, cover crops, crop sequencing, and natural pest control. It could be aptly dubbed ‘knowledge-intensive’ farming.”
First of all, Pollan states just because it says it's organic doesn't mean it really is. If you buy an “organic” salad at your local grocery store, farmers will still use pesticides to keep bugs away and other animals. The chemicals they use are all natural, but it's not truly organic if you use pesticides or other chemicals. In The Omnivore’s Dilemma Pollan says, “Instead of toxic pesticides, crops are sprayed with natural substances, like BT, a pesticide made from a common soil bacteria” (140.) This quote proves that big organic industrial companies use pesticides to help produce grow.
The Omnivor’s Dilemma by Micheal Pollan talks about four different food chains such as industrial, hunter-gathering, local sustainable, and the industrial organic food chain which covers the secrets of the United States food system and what our food actually contains in the book. But have you ever wondered what food chain was the best for America? The industrial organic food chain is the best to feed the US because it’s better for our bodies and the environment. The first reason why the industrial organic food chain is better out of all the other three food chains is from this quote which argues: “It meant being free from the control of corporations.”
The farms are apt to adopt the monoculture in order to maximize profits. Under the mono farming method, the major environment threat is vanishing species. Pollan takes George Naylor’s farm as an example to illustrate the noticeable ecological change under corn subsidy. George’s farm used to be diverse and practiced crop rotation farming method. However, the situation changed from the 1950s, farmers accepted government subsidies to grow corn.
Many people choose to eat only organic because it’s said to be healthier but when compared to non-organic food the difference is slim. Regardless people continue to buy organic products. People get emotionally connected to
This type of organic food that is popular among many people is produced on organic farms. Farms belonging to this group foster recycling, speak for promotion of ecological balance concept and represent the direction of conserving environment. The process of growing organic food implies refusal from use of synthetic pesticides as well as other chemical stuff that increases fertility. According to the Food Marketing Institute, “Organic livestock must have access to the outdoors and be given no antibiotics or growth hormones” (Natural And Organic Foods).
