The Omnivore's Dilemma is a fascinating story about where our food comes from, and it's not an overstatement to say that it changed my life. It sounds like it could be an incredibly boring read - Michael Pollan talks about the modern food production industry by following the path of four different meals, from farm to plate. However, it's anything but boring - I couldn't put this book down, and I recommend it to anyone who is curious about what they're eating.
Even though this is a non-fiction book that is full of facts and figures, it still manages to be a really interesting read because Michael Pollan is such a great storyteller. When he is telling the reader about where a McDonald's meal comes from, he visits an industrial feedlot and describes the disgusting and disturbing sights and smells of where cows are fattened up before slaughter. When he decides to find out what it's like to produce your own food, he describes a hunt for a wild boar that is both funny and frightening. He describes in great detail shooting the boar, bleeding it, and butchering it, and then describes the meal where he serves boar prosciutto to a group of friends. The Omnivore's Dilemma, at its centre, is just a really good story that kept me turning pages late into the night; an unusual way to describe a non-fiction book about the food industry.
More importantly, Pollan's book changed how I understand the food on my plate, and changed how I eat. I was a vegetarian for sixteen years because of my disgust with the industrial farming complex, and what it was doing to our health and our planet. This book changed that. Pollan makes a compelling argument that in order to change the way our food is produced, we can't just opt out of the system as I had for more than half of my life. Instead, it is important to engage in food production that is ethical and environmentally sustainable. I am no longer a vegetarian; I now take part in the system by eating local, sustainably raised meat, and supporting local farmers. This book changed what I eat, and what I feed my family. If you have any curiosity about food, or if you just like a good story, buy this book - it just might change your life, too.

The Omnivore's Dilemma is just fabulous. As a long-time vegetarian I thought I was already aware of the issues concerning where our food comes from, but I learned a lot from this book. Not only is it extremely well written, but the way Pollan goes through his thought process really gets the reader thinking too.
I spotted a few small errors, but nothing major. The author touches on the link between global warming and agriculture, but misses the opportunity to mention what an important factor it is.
Highly recommended!

This book is very informative about the way food gets to our tables. I have to say, it has definitely caused me to be more mindful of the food I purchase and feed my family.
I found it to be a long, slow read as I wanted to absorb everything. It is a reference book full of great information, but presented in an approachable, entertaining way.

In this book, Michael Pollan investigates how food gets to our plates, following the food from start to finish. The book is split into three main sections: industry, organic and hunter/gatherer. The organic section of the book is split into what he calls "industrial organic" (what the government has incorporated into standards to call food "organic") and what someone else calls "beyond organic" (more what most people would think of when they think organic, not only healthier feed, but including cage-free, animals allowed to act like animals, etc.). He ends each chapter with a meal gained from the processes he was just investigating.

It was very good. I found the organic section very interesting, and I feel less trustworthy of the industrial organic foods. I particularly was interested in the chapter entitled "The Ethics of Eating Animals" (part of the hunter/gatherer section of the book), because it's something I'm struggling with myself. And who knew learning about mushrooms would be so interesting!? He describes his meals in full detail, which wasn't as interesting to me, but would probably be very interesting to a foodie

A book about food that truly needs to be savoured...read this book slowly, the way food is meant to be eaten and enjoyed, to truly understand and appreciate the work Pollan has done.

Pollan explores the omnivore's dilemma -- what shall we have for dinner today -- from the perspective of four styles of food production. First up is the modern industrial meal purchased from the drive-by window of McDonald's and eaten in a speeding car. This meal is largely dependent on massive corn production and has an energy return on investment of less than 10:1 -- ten units of fossil fuel energy required to produce one unit of corn food energy. The ratio falls to 100:1 when we eat beef. Next up is the industrial organic meal -- not much different from the McDonald's industrial agriculture model, except for a few less chemical inputs. Most heartening was the very sane approach of a middle-American "grass farmer" who manages to make money and produce astonishing amounts of food from a small-scale, closed loop farm. This sounds like farming as we imagine it should be, but rarely is these days. Sadly, as Pollan elaborates, government agricultural policies do everything they can to destroy this very sane style of farming. Lastly, Pollan takes us on a California hunter-gatherer adventure. The life-long anti-gun liberal overcomes his rifle repugnance to shoot a wild boar, attempts to produce salt from the polluted waters of San Francisco Bay, cracks the secretive cult of wild mushroom pickers and takes about a week to prepare one hunter-gatherer dinner. The effort may be staggering, but the results sounded pretty mouth-watering! This is an important book for understanding where our food comes from and how dependent we are on today's mammoth industrial agricultural food system.

Or an even better question is 'what is dinner made of?'. Michael Pollan brings to us his journey to find the 'perfect meal'. In the process of his search, he debunks several myths about the industrial agriculture that produces the majority of food at your local supermarket. One of the more revealing discoveries is that buying 'organic' is pretty much the same as your ordinary industrial agriculture, sometimes grown right next to the regular supermarket foods.

While Pollan does go on to describe a meal entirely hunted and gathered (mostly but not entirely actually), he concludes to eat this way in our modern world is virtually impossible. So, we basically have no choice other than to eat what is available in the supermarkets and 'organic' food stores which after all hasn't decreased the average lifespan. Ultimately, while corn-fed animals may not be as 'clean' as grass-fed animals, it won't make much difference in how long you live.

The book is very well-written and Pollan's research is extensive. His mix of documented research and first-hand accounts is what makes the book so credible and insightful.

Omnivore's Dilemma - catchy title, but after reading this book, there doesn't seem to be any dilemma. The choice is clear.

This book is very well written, well-researched. Pollan has a great vocabulary, prompting a frequent use of the dictionary, but the message couldn't be any clearer. Our food chain is made complex by government policies, business decisions, economics, and history, and it obscures our vision of what it is exactly that we eat. Pollan's book challenges the reader to find a simpler, cleaner, more environmentally friendly, animal-friendly, healthy source of food. Personally I am a changed consumer. I hardly could imagine anyone who reads this book not to embrace its message.