Verified Document

Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan Focuses Term Paper

Corn as a sweetener -- yes indeed, ketchup and to cook French fries -- all without providing the basic nutritional needs and taking more from the environment that is given back (pp. 109-19). Today, my epiphany began with a Sunday morning ritual -- a trip to Starbucks for a Caramel Breve and pastry, while working on the Sunday crossword puzzle. It occurred to me that this would be an interesting test of the Pollan theory; trace the ingredients for a simple breakfast. First, the coffee plant certainly benefits from human consumption because of the vast amounts now used for the megagiant roasters. Second, Starbucks is one of those companies that puts the richest countries in contract with the poorest countries to mass produce the goods and services necessary. This $3.00 drink probably produced less than a percentage of a penny to the local farmer; then even less to the roaster. At the same time, purchasing the coffee keeps the kid employees at the kiosk, dozens of marketing and sales personnel at SB headquarters, a few peasant growers, their families, and the interesting bleed off of growing the bean to selling the product. Pollan would certainly see the interrelationship between the long history of coffee beans and the developed world; but in particular the "selling" of the Starbuck's experience, which has little to do with nutrition, and only marginally with coffee.

Anthony Bourdain, author and now mega-chef critic; tends to see American cuisine, even some of it made well, as a bit of fast-food hype;...

Although, Bourdain in his travels has eaten a number of foods very exotic and tied to cultures (cobra, ants, etc.). He seems to believe that people need to eat what they can find in nature; but that 21st century westerners cause a massive rape of the land by producing too much of one thing, not enough of the other, and still leave the world with a good percentage of people who are hungry (Buck, 2010).
Reflecting on Pollan's book clearly makes one think of going to the organic market; finding only sustainable farms; eating meat that is not factory raised. and, in the best of all possible worlds, that would be idea. However, with the need for food taking over most human ethical sense, we must decide if we are ready, from a public policy perspective, to change the way the First World works, or do we continue to be myopic and "hope a solution comes our way?" Perhaps if each of us works on the small choices they will have larger impact through synergy?

References

Buck, C. (November/December 2010). The Omnivore's Agenda: An Interview

With Anthony Bourdain. Cited in:

http://motherjones.com/environment/2010/09/interview-anthony-bourdain

Levine, Ketzel. (6/4/2001). Interview with Michael Pollan on a Plant's Eye View

of the World," Morning Edition, National Public Radio. Cited in:

http://www.npr.org

Pollan, Michael. (2007). The Omnivore's Dilemma. New York: Penguin Books.

Sources used in this document:
References

Buck, C. (November/December 2010). The Omnivore's Agenda: An Interview

With Anthony Bourdain. Cited in:

http://motherjones.com/environment/2010/09/interview-anthony-bourdain

Levine, Ketzel. (6/4/2001). Interview with Michael Pollan on a Plant's Eye View
http://www.npr.org
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Omnivore's Dilemma Michael Pollan's Award-Winning
Words: 1499 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Moreover, vegetarianism is theoretically possible at McDonalds by eating the token salads on the menu. The token salads might still be in keeping with the tenets of agro-business but they do not contain meat products. Still, Pollan hints at how those salads support the same industries that sustain large-scale animal slaughtering. In Chapter Seven, Pollan focuses on the ethics and the feasibility of the fast food business model as well

Omnivores Dilemma Part I Industrial Corn
Words: 711 Length: 2 Document Type: Research Paper

Omnivore's Dilemma: Part I: Industrial/Corn "the Omnivore's Dilemma" - review Michael Pollan's book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" is not necessarily meant to put across breakthrough information or to trigger intense feelings in individuals reading it. Instead, it is actually intended to provide important information so as for readers to be able to gain a more complex understanding regarding what foods would be healthy for them to eat and how they can develop the

Michael Pollan in 2006, Published
Words: 2777 Length: 8 Document Type: Research Paper

Pollan stresses the need to cook our own food and reassert the historical and cultural importance of food in our lives. Again this strengthens Pollan's rhetoric and continues the line of reasoning he began in Omnivore's Dilemma. So it's good to be encouraged by Pollan, who eulogises the pleasures of cooking, and to be reminded of some basic truths."When you cook at home, you seldom find yourself reaching for the

Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan: Socio-Economic Influences
Words: 470 Length: 2 Document Type: Research Proposal

Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan: Socio-Economic Influences of Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian Diets Michael Pollan, in his book The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, discussed the social, economic, and geographic/environmental factors that influenced humanity's diets, of which eating both plants and animals -- an omnivorous diet -- is the predominant diet in most of today's societies. However, in the midst of this omnivorous diet is an emerging group of

Omnivore's Dilemma Pollan, Michael. The
Words: 1637 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

But the larger-scale solution of Whole Foods is not much better than industrialization -- organic farming has become corporatized and industrialized, and many farmers' free-range chickens are not part of an ecosystem like Salatin, but merely meet federally regulated requirements to have a few more inches to move than their commercially farmed brethren. 'Big Organic' pioneers like the CEO of Cascadian Farms drive Lexuses with ORANIC as their vanity

Omnivore Science Is a Neutral Human Pursuit.
Words: 1613 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Omnivore Science is a neutral human pursuit. It is only the application of science that raises potential ethical questions. Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle perfectly exposes the ways science can be manipulated by the hands of its sponsors. Money determines the nature of research, its methodologies, its findings, and its applications. Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma raises similar ethical questions and concerns, focused not on the military but on the food

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now