The Omnivore's Dilemma

[austrya]

Wow, what a book. I'm only about 1/4 of the way through it, but I've learned so much.

 

I can say that we will no longer eat meat or eggs that come from a "factory" farm. Also, foods that contain mostly processed corn are out of here too.

[explodo]

Still waiting for my library to come through for me on this one.

[lizish]

love the book, Especially the conversational tone and the way things were presented so simply

[M. (hristine]

Disclaimer: Michael Pollan is one of my favorite authors and my philosophical soul mate.

 

I think this book is one of the most important books to be written in the last 40 years. We are facing a health crisis in this country which the first several chapters of Dilemma explain pretty handily.

 

Should be required reading.

[austrya]

I was thinking about that too. It should be required reading. It's funny how there is such a health crisis with obesity, type II diabetes, and heart disease and it can all be directly related to the government's policies on CORN, yet they do nothing about it.

[lizish]

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/fit.nation/obesity.map/

 

scary

[yermom]

This is set to come out in January. Should be good...

[MattZ]

I'd be willing to bet that most meat eaters (me included) would give up meat forever if they spent 5 minutes in a slaughterhouse. The fact that it comes celophane wrapped in the supermarket, as if it fell out of the sky like that, makes it so much easier to love.

[Lammycat]

There's a lot of crap in most foods people eat, not just the meats. Ever compare an organic apple to the regular apple you get at the supermarket? It's a remarkably noticeable difference in texture and taste, imo.

 

Same with water. I've been drinking filtered water for about ten years now and have a hard time drinking regular tap water. It's not a snobby thing, just that my taste buds have acclimated to the point where the chlorine and after-taste in regular water bum me out and slightly burn my throat. Chlorine and other stuff that's put in water are necessary for cleansing it, but it should be removed prior to ingesting, imo. I liking it to a bag put on a loaf of bread to keep it fresh/sanitary. You don't eat the bag, though. Try showering in filtered water for a week, too. No more itching!

 

I've read Fast Food Nation which focuses on the fast-food industry but is relevant for general health discussions. It isn't just the meats used for fast-food burgers that are cited in the book. There are unbelievably twisted and low standards for the things that the industry that is designed to look out for our best interests as consumers allows the public to consume.

 

I tend to think that as foul as some of the stuff is that most of us put in our bodies, our bodies have adapted and accepted (for the most part) the chemicals/schwag that we put in our bodies. Don't get me wrong- I don't think it's healthy and I think things can stand to be changed in terms of federal standards, but I do think that bodies (like Earth) adapt to their circumstances/environs.

[Edie]

I'd be willing to bet that most meat eaters (me included) would give up meat forever if they spent 5 minutes in a slaughterhouse. The fact that it comes celophane wrapped in the supermarket, as if it fell out of the sky like that, makes it so much easier to love.

 

This is the truth. Native Americans and other similar people would profusely thank a fallen animal(s) after killing it, then ensure that the entire animal was used. If you bought Kosher meats you would be taking a big step up.

[M. (hristine]

I'd be willing to bet that most meat eaters (me included) would give up meat forever if they spent 5 minutes in a slaughterhouse. The fact that it comes celophane wrapped in the supermarket, as if it fell out of the sky like that, makes it so much easier to love.

Hunting/catching game is an aspect of eating that Pollan writes about towards the end of the book. It is always an interesting conversation to have with people (meat eaters, particularly) who are appalled that I hunt and fish and eat what I kill. 'Oh, you enjoy killing?" There are many emotions that run through you when you take an animal for food, but enjoyment is not one. Gratitude is the overwheming feeling that I have had. That and not wanting another creature to have suffering. The enjoyment comes (and far more intensely than when eating store bought food), when one takes nourishment from this creature who has shared it's sun energy with me.

 

There is a dishonest aspect to grocery stores; especially concerning the issue of meat. I don't eat much of it, but I understand viscerally how it gets put into those tidy cellophaned packages. I have lived on a relatively self sufficient farm, where we culled our own chickens and ate the calf that we raised. I milked and drank goat's milk and collected eggs and butchered venison and birthed lambs and fileted fish that I caught and gardened intensively. These experiences changed my life immeasurably. When we talk about public service for young people, living this way for a year after high school would go a long way in uderstanding, and more importantly, appreciating, where our food comes from.

[austrya]

The thing that bothers me about beef is that the "factory" farms are feeding them corn and beef fat which thier bodies are not made to eat. This causes them to get sick so instead of feading them the right way, they just pump them full of antibiotics and it's supposed to be ok.

 

It takes an angus steer 5-6 years to get to the butchering size when they are fed a natural diet of grass and hay but it takes a factory farm 18 months to get the steer to that size. This just makes the animal miserable, makes the meat have higher cholesterol and fat, and makes us fat.

[LouieB]

Interesting that this and a White Castle thread are up at the same time....

 

LouieB

[LouieB]

... living this way for a year after high school would go a long way in uderstanding, and more importantly, appreciating, where our food comes from.

 

Truly...

 

LouieB

[M. (hristine]

Truly...

 

LouieB

Haha! Nice catch, Lou!

[Whitty]

I'd be willing to bet that most meat eaters (me included) would give up meat forever if they spent 5 minutes in a slaughterhouse. The fact that it comes celophane wrapped in the supermarket, as if it fell out of the sky like that, makes it so much easier to love.

 

You could use a similar analogy when considering American viewpoints on warfare. Push a button from several thousand yards away and some little brown people in the distance die. Perhaps they're even vaporized. A little bit different than "those other people" using a machete to lop off a head for the video camera. But the end result is the same.

 

America has a weird disconnect with death. I think our casually violence-saturated media (and I should add, I think the relatively bloodless "sanitized" violence of network TV is more sinister than something more realistic like say, Saving Private Ryan), our whiz-bang war/food processing/medical technology, and continuing fundamentalist love of Jebus all contribute to skewed perception of mortality.

 

And now I'm rambling.

 

I like meat. I think every meat-eater should experience the first-hand capture, slaughter, and preparation of their food at least once. I don't enjoy the killing of a fish when I'm at the beach, but it gives me a tangible feel for the intimacy between hunter and quarry that has only recently been lost in Western culture.

[isadorah]

I haven't read the omnivore's dilemma, but have read other books similar. the commercial food industry is crazy. i was a vegetarian for 10 years, but having discovered a serious food allergy, for health reasons, have had to go back to meat eater status. this whole changing what and how to fix for food has been very enlightening. an interesting tidbit: the healthiest way to grocery shop, shop the perimeter of the store.

 

i think a lot of health problems today go beyond the horrors of the commercial meat packing industry. it's amazing what contains high fructose corn syrup and if they can make foods without that in them, why is it necessary to include it in practically everything. i agree that our bodies can adapt and evolve with the world we create, but wonder to what extent. in thinking about the amount of chemicals we put into our bodies vis-a-vis preservatives, antibiotics, hormones, etc. I wonder if there is a correlation between those things and the diseases that affect us the most (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and a lot of mental illness, such as anxiety and depression). wouldn't it be great if the ethenol industry took off and altered the demand and use of corn, i think we would eat a lot healthier because the results could get companies to re-evaluate the use of corn/corn syrup in so many products.

 

last winter, when Denver was hit so badly with blizzards, there was a news report about how power and water had been restored, but the weather was preventing regular shipping from entering the city. this caused problems because bread couldn't reach the people even though they had full cooking capabilities. that story made me realize, we as a culture, have forgotten how to make bread.

[yermom]

i think a lot of health problems today go beyond the horrors of the commercial meat packing industry. it's amazing what contains high fructose corn syrup and if they can make foods without that in them, why is it necessary to include it in practically everything. i agree that our bodies can adapt and evolve with the world we create, but wonder to what extent. in thinking about the amount of chemicals we put into our bodies vis-a-vis preservatives, antibiotics, hormones, etc. I wonder if there is a correlation between those things and the diseases that affect us the most (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and a lot of mental illness, such as anxiety and depression).

 

Not to mention our obsession with health & beauty products and our mass consumption of insane cleaning products, toxic plastics, whatever, etc.

I just had a brief conversation on this topic with my partner this morning. My conclusion: the only way to truly avoid all of this stuff is to move onto some land in some far off place, grow your own food, run around naked etc. and even then, you've probably got some nasty stuff coming through the air from the civilization that continues around you and some freaky stuff in the soil from the run-off from some big turkey farm up the road. Ahhhhhhhhh!

I just try to limit the amount of worry I put into it, because I just end up all angry and confused.

[bobbob1313]

I caught a fish and gutted it and all that myself one time. Does that mean I'm allowed to eat meat and not feel guilty? Boy I hope so. It would be a huge burden off of my shoulders.

[Whitty]

Does that mean I'm allowed to eat meat and not feel guilty?

 

Everything but veal! You need to kill and gut at least three fish or a chicken for that.

[bjorn_skurj]

Not to mention our obsession with health & beauty products and our mass consumption of insane cleaning products, toxic plastics, whatever, etc.

I just had a brief conversation on this topic with my partner this morning. My conclusion: the only way to truly avoid all of this stuff is to move onto some land in some far off place, grow your own food, run around naked etc. and even then, you've probably got some nasty stuff coming through the air from the civilization that continues around you and some freaky stuff in the soil from the run-off from some big turkey farm up the road. Ahhhhhhhhh!

The above was a very popular option about 35-40 years or so ago.

[bobbob1313]

Everything but veal! You need to kill and gut at least three fish or a chicken for that.

 

Sweet, I don't even like veal.

[yermom]

The above was a very popular option about 35-40 years or so ago.

Still is in my 'hood! Mountain hippy hillbillies...good people, taught me lots of cool things my city poppa never could have.

[Hi my name is Lee]

[la*]

I thought Omnivore's Dilemma was excellent. In the same vein, I thought Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver was very, very powerful. She writes about many of Pollan's topics but in a more immediate way, since she and her family were spending a year eating only food they'd grown or purchased locally.

 

I'd also recommend Marion Nestle's What to Eat.

 

This whole topic fascinates me (and scares me..)