- What is Pollan's project here? What is he trying to accomplish in this b ook?
- What have you learned so far about America's food chains?
- How would you respond to Pollan's argument?
due in class 2/15/12
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Pollan Response 1
For your first response on Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, you should address these three questions.
due in class 2/15/12
due in class 2/15/12
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1. Pollan’s project is to figure out what to have for dinner. With a wide variety on the menu, as the omnivore, we have to ask ourselves what to eat, thus causing this dilemma. He is trying to accomplish the understanding behind where our meals come from, exactly what are the origins of mealtime?
ReplyDelete2. I have learned thus far from food chains is that corn is in everything, it’s a staple ingredient for almost everything we consume. Also, that a problem with food chains is the place they are getting their ingredients. Much of the agriculture has been simplified for these food chains so they can ship out mass quantities of it, thus resulting in health and environmental problems. Pollan suggests returning to our former roots of agriculture, and I would have to admit the same thinking.
3. I would to respond to Pollan’s argument by furthering agreeing what he has laid out in “The Omnivores Dilemma.” He speaks a lot of truth behind the food we consume. I would say that going against his argument makes me want to abolish my current eating habits and revert to a plant-based diet, for it’s best for everyone. He claims that it’s good for the environment for humans to carry on eating meat, for we maintain animal control whilst enjoying our favorite dishes.
Pollan’s project in The Omnivore’s Dilemma is to explain to his readers where their food comes from. He asks not what are we having for dinner? But rather where did what we’re eating for dinner come from? I think that in this book he is primarily trying to show how different America’s food culture is now than it used to be. When he visits the Naylor’s corn farm we learn how and why virtually all of our foods, plastics, and other household items are made from corn. The saying “knee high by The fourth of July” once identified a quality crop of corn. Today, corn is double that height by July 4th and is grown much closer together. Pollan compares modern day corn to people living in cities. It has adapted and learned how to grow much closer together than would have ever been possible 200 years ago. Pollan uses this and other examples to show how much our food had changed (for the worse) over the years, and how that not only affects out health but the famer and animal livelihood as well.
ReplyDeleteSo far, from reading Pollan’s book I have learned that America’s food chains are much less complex than they once were. A long time ago there would have to be many different crops that had to be grown on different patches of ground each year in order to preserve the nutrients in the soil and ensure a better crop. Now with the help or fertilizers and genetically modified seeds there is no need for any of that. The same crop can be grown on the same patch of land year after year and the results will continue to be better and better with less and less work from the farmer. In modern day America, farmers grow only four of five crops such as corn and soybeans and these grains are then processed into the other foods that we need to maintain a healthy diet. However, since they are process and fake, they are not as healthy as we think they are. We have also changed the thing that our animals eat, which has also lead to a much less complex food chain. Cows were meant to eat grass, but we have trained them to eat a blend of food that comes from the crops that we already grow in excess, such as corn. Therefore, we no longer have a need to grow grass, there is more room, to grown corn, and the cycle continues.
I have never read this book before but I have read a lot of other books and articles about this subject. I have always been interested in the history of our food and it’s evolution and in my previous research I have come across much of the same logic as is presented in Pollan’s book. I find his argument to be very convincing and I buy into what he says completely, but I allow that this may be because of pervious knowledge and opinions that I already possessed.
Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma explorers the crisis American’s face in regards to decision making for the food we eat and feed our children. Whether that be organic foods, fast food, or alternatives the very well being of our lives depend on this decision. Pollan explores the cause and effects of the different foods we intake whether that be industrial or natural accounts and dives deeper into the origins of these habits, and preferences while also tying it in with politics and economics. Similar to that Supersize Me or even Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives Pollan gives us first hand experience with these foods and dives deeper into the matter than just how it tastes. His project is to discover why and how it is we eat what we eat, something most people don’t take the time out to actually think about. Ignorance to our food intake can cause for a serious “omnivore dilemma” for all of society.
ReplyDeleteWe learn about the history of our food industry from its transition from natural consumption and creation to our standard, factory-style, mass-produced foods that are found to be actually doing more bad than good. To make up for the ever-increasing population in America, our country is forced to produce more food at a faster pace, even if it means raising animals unnaturally, by use of steroids and mistreatment, in order to feed the millions of hungry mouths.
Although unnatural, our capitalist society is forced to conform to these abnormalities and cope to survive. We live in a new era where cities are created and the world’s sophistication is growing at a rapid pace to the point where our old ways of hunting and gathering would be inefficient for humanity at this point.
In The Omnivore’s Dilemma Pollan focuses much of his efforts to find out why consumers of food and beverages consume the way we do. Pollan takes an adventure to research much of his time watching how corn, the plant that covers a good portion of our land, is produced and how they use it. We basically only use white and sweet corm when Americans consume the plant. Pollan is trying to figure out why we can’t use more and why we don’t actually eat more of it rather than the fatty food that we are so easily drawn to. Whole foods are much healthier and after corn is produced a certain way it contains no calories and just slips through the digestive track. Why haven’t I been eating this? Why is this the first time I’ve heard of this? America’s food chains are willing to throw in the cheapest part of the corn there is to make a mass production of their food. The covering of chicken nuggets has cornstarch along with much of the bread products that we consume. America’s food chains are just trying to steady their business. Further into Americas food chains you see how corn is grown, picked, separated, made into dry corn, wet corn, etc. Corn that we use in everyday food that we don’t even realize. Pollan argues that if we, the consumer, would just spend more time eating whole foods, which are actually pricier if you are comparing how many calories you get out of a carrot compared to chips or soda compared to juice, but in the long run it is well worth it. Pollan is trying to argue that when we step foot in the grocery store, a land filled with man made and natural foods to step away from the Twinkie (because petroleum jelly doesn’t have nutritional value) and pick up a whole food instead!
ReplyDeleteMolly Risola
Omnivore’s Dilemma is based on the “behind the scenes” of how America gets their food. Pollan went deep inside farms, manufacturing plants, and grocery stores to basically do a background check on where food really comes from. He wants to see the overall process of where food originates from to how we purchase it at grocery stores.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading chapters one through six, I have learned so much more than I ever could have imagined about the origins of our food. I have found out that corn is one of the biggest factors in where our food comes from. Traces of corn can be found in cereal, eggs, chips, and so much more. It can also be found in non-edible things such as the gloss that makes a magazine cover shiny, the plaster used in houses, or the packaging of food. America’s food chains typically all start out with corn. Currently, it is not the pure corn that you would assume, but it is often a GMO (genetically modified object). After the corn has been planted and grown, it is then shipped and used by other food chains. It could be used strictly as corn, which I feel most Americans assume this is what happens or it could go through other things. Corn supplies all of America’s livestock. Most Americans would probably like to think that what the livestock that they are consuming eats fresh wholesome grains and proteins, or possibly Americans do not even consider what the livestock is consuming. Corn can also be used to produce other kinds of food, or it can be shipped to places to be used for non-edible things.
I believe that Pollan’s argument is correct. Everything we use daily somehow comes from corn, but if we destroy the makings of it, then where will we be? The average American is very unaware of the impact that corn has on our everyday lives, because I definitely was.
Your "background check" metaphor is really apt!
DeletePollan’s original plan was to follow a bushel of corn all the way through its entire refining process until it was placed his plate. He soon realized that this would be impossible, because of the way in which corn is processed, and decided to go step by step through the life of the different types of corn Americans consume.
ReplyDeletePollan is trying to argue not only that the modern day food process is not only unhealthy and leading to of the Health problems American faces today, but also that the current food system is inefficient and wasteful, and only those at the very top of the industry are profiting from the system.
I have learned how they profit. I lived in a rural farm town in Missouri for a while, so much of this isn’t new to me. When he talks about how Monsanto patents their seeds, making farmers dependent on them, I was able to relate because I new many people who were driven into bankruptcy because of that.
However I did not realize how beneficial it was for companies to “add value”
to their foods and the impact it had. Allowing them to increase shelf life, and go global with their products. I also did not realize that companies were creating beef with petroleum. I know that isn’t exactly what they are doing, but still I never would have imagined petroleum was the main ingredient in some of our beef.
I can’t say I disagree with any thing he is saying. What I especially appreciate is how offers solutions instead of just pointing out problems, or pointing out examples of how other places in the world are successful, while using the practices he recommends. Such as, when he speaks about how Argentina is able to produce high quality beef, while still raising cattle, who graze on grass naturally, instead of fattening them up with corn.
Pollen initially begins trying to follow the food from our supermarkets back to it’s origins. He quickly discovers that corn is the root of many our foods and products. He goes on to examine it’s production, explaining why it got to where it is now, from the root evolutionary reasons to the current economical situation which forces farmers to plant ever greater amounts of corn to support themselves as it’s price drops forcing it’s price ever lower. The surplus of corn described is unsettling. The treatment of cows in feedlots more so. While I was aware of how hard off farmers where, I wasn’t aware of the exact economic reasons for that, corn prices lowering thereby lowering the prices of meat forcing individual farmers to put themselves into debt to make a profit. The pure efficiency of the feedlots is why they are used and I feel that Pollen draws a powerful parallel between that, the current improper use of corn to feed the cows in the lots, and the earlier feeding of cow to cow that caused the mad cow disease issue.
ReplyDeleteI think his argument is strong and convincing but I’m not sure what can be realistically changed. It’s clear that he advocates major changes and while I would support that given the chance the changes he advocates would make many things more expensive and hard to afford for the average middle class person. There would also be strong opposition and while that is a non-issue I don’t feel like he’s got enough oomph in his message to establish enough support to overcome that opposition considering that any supporters he might get would be acutely aware of the fact that they are making buying everyday foods harder for themselves. Essentially we live in a world with a lot of people and while our food production is disturbing and on the verge of unreasonably unhealthy it’s hard to justify making the food that large number of people eat harder for them to afford.
We would involuntarily be eating a lot less meat, and I think a lot of people would be pretty grouchy about that.
DeletePollan has undertaken a task that one would think wouldn’t be as overwhelming as it becomes. Tracing the food that he consumes becomes a monumental task to undertake because of how much sorting is involved in making America’s food. What he is trying to do for the reader is make us aware of the complicated process of following the food we eat from the farm to the dining room table (or drive thru window).
ReplyDeleteThe process of food growing then mixing at an elevator and distribution to various companies for corn alone is a mind-boggling process that most people would not have the patience to follow; thankfully Pollan is here to explain to everyone how in-depth this process is. What I did know about corn going into this book is that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was an extememly abundant ingredient in almost all foods today. What I didn’t know was to the massive extent of which corn is an ingredient in food today. It was surprising to me as Pollan listed half a page of foods that corn is an ingredient of. One thing that I am very glad I learned about is all of the different names that corn goes under; who would have guessed that such an unassuming crop would have so many different aliases on the backs of food packaging.
This is an extremely interesting book; after seeing the title of chapter 1 I honestly had to think to myself “Wow this is going to be a boring read”, but I was dead wrong. The history of zea mays wasn’t exactly the most page-turning thing I’ve ever read, but what it led up to were revelations that myself and I’m assuming most of the world was and still is unaware of. Throughout this class, everything we’ve been learning about this misperception of food and what really goes into making our meals has culminated in this text. I would honestly urge anybody that is interested in knowing more about food origins to pick up this book and delve into the dirty world of the behind the scenes of the food industry.
Pollan’s argument as to what is better for us; either natural food or this food science stuff is an interesting one. I’m sure that later in the book we’ll find evidence that food science makes food safer and we’ve seen a little of that up to this point, but the overall theme of natural food- free of pesticides, processors, and inserted vitamins and nutrients being what the human body really needs should be the basis of his arguments throughout the rest of the book. Much up to this point is explanations of how the food industry processes, but I’m sure that through Pollan’s interesting and at times funny writing style, should make the rest of the book an excellent argument into why food science is threatening our lives physically and even ecologically.
The Omnivores Dilemma is an in depth analysis of our societies many food chains. There are multiple “chains” food takes to become a meal, and Pollan wants to find out what they really are. Along with how food gets to us, the author makes an attempt at finding the safest chain for our entire species to survive. This book attempts to educate the masses about the food choices that can hurt our world as we know it.
ReplyDeleteThe first chain discussed is industrial. Pollan claims that the industrial chain, and also our country, is reliant on corn. Corn has been hailed for its myriad of diverse uses. Our history rooted corn into our society, and today it is used to feed livestock all of the country. We consume corn products ourselves everyday, and its rarely in corn form. From corn, the industrial food chain brings us no more then fast food. The irony here is that, according to Pollan, as our dependence on corn has grown, so has corns dependence on humans.
Pollan appears to make legitimate arguments against certain aspects of food chains. He clearly has researched the topic greatly. Its no wonder he feels strongly against the industrial chain, as corruption and cost/time cutting has tainted the food. The mass production of the industry has clearly sacrificed quality and resources.
In the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma the author, Pollan’s objective is to dig as far as he can into where our food comes from. He basically wants to follow the path of our food from the ground/womb to the grocery store/restaurant. His main goal he is trying to accomplish besides simply getting all the details he can about the food industry in the United States is too enlighten us on where our food comes from and how the food system works. I don’t think people are as knowledgeable on such an important subject as maybe we should be. I know I learned a lot about how much corn is in basically everything we eat and it is that way because of how cheap it is to produce corn. I was also surprised to learn that humans have had such an impact in genetically changing corn into a mass-produced project instead of corn growing in a completely natural manner. I think another factor Pollan wants to report on in his book is that the way things are is hard on farmers, I think he made a political statement in the first few chapters about how hard it is for farmers like Naylor to survive with the way the government is running the food system.
ReplyDeleteI have learned that corn is way more of a staple than I expected. I knew there was corn in a lot of the stuff we buy in the grocery store and I knew it was even used as a sweetener that is cheaper than sugar, but I didn’t think past that. I didn’t realize it was used for so many other things than for humans to eat. I knew animals ate/eat corn but I didn’t know that it was used so much in the feeding and fattening of animals to slaughter for meat. I also didn’t know it was used as a shine for other items in the produce section of the grocery store. Likewise, I didn’t know that it was used in toothpaste and such. Along with what I learned about corn I learned that a lot of farmers don’t make enough to survive, I guess I kind of already knew that but I didn’t know to what extent and I didn’t know all the reasons that the book mentions. I also learned the cows are slaughter before they turn two years old and that the mass production and assembly line fattening of cattle has cut the time needed to get a cow to slaughter stage in half. Another interesting section was the look inside the cereal factory.
I would agree with Pollan’s argument that Americans don’t know as much about the food system as they should. I can say that because I have learned a lot about it in just these six chapters of his book. Along with that I would say that he does a good job with getting his point across that the main goal of our food system is to get food from the ground/womb to our stomachs as quickly and cheaply as possible. In one section he talks about how much cheaper the processed brand-name foods are in the grocery store and how much more people can be fed by those meals than what can be bought in the organic sections of the stores. I thought it was interesting how he tied obesity and wealth in with how the food is made. It isn’t made to be healthy it is made to make more money. So, if people can’t buy the more expensive stuff to feed their family the companies try to make them eat more of the cheap stuff to equal it out. Towards the end of our reading assignment Pollan talks about how McDonalds learned that people are more likely to order a bigger amount the first time they go to the counter than to go for seconds, because going for seconds can be embarrassing because people think you are pigging out, but if you just eat that amount the first time no one feels the pressure. Another point he brought up that was interesting is that the amount of food Americans eat is pretty much fixed because people can only eat as much as they can eat. The population grows 1% a year so the food industry can really only expect 1% growth so they have to find other ways to grow their profit. Most, like McDonalds, do this by trying to get people to eat more of their food at their store.
In the Omnivore’s Dilemma, the author Polland describes how corn and food processing has come to dominate America’s food culture. Corn has become a vital food source, and it is found in almost every snack in the pantry. It is fed to cattle, chicken, and fish, which are later consumed by humans, illustrating how corn is everywhere. In the first six chapters of the book Polland visits a form in Iowa and tries track corn from its beginning all the way it is consumed. Polland is trying to inform readers on how processed the food they eat is, from their breakfast cereal all the way up to their dinner steak. He also shows readers how farming techniques have evolved over time, but do not benefit the farmer of today. In fact, farmers get the blunt end of all the advancements over the past 40 years, and many are in debt or going in to debt no matter what their yield is. Yes corn has fed many people and made food affordable, but it also has caused lots of problems. Run off from the fertilizers and pesticides used on the farm have hurt the environment, creating a dead zone of algae in the Gulf of Mexico. Also all the waste of the massive cow lots have gotten in to the meat, and have run off in to rivers. Diabetes and obesity is very prevalent today due to the processing of using corn.
ReplyDeleteWhat I have learned most about America’s food chain is that corn has a major role in mostly everything we eat. Because corn can reproduce rapidly, be processed in to cheap affordable food, and can fatten chicken, pigs, and cattle in a fraction of the time that nature alone could have, it is America’s most valuable crop. Corn allows us to eat beef more often, as well as enjoy soda at a decent price. America’s food chain consists of processed corn.
I agree it is scary how we must use corn in everything nowadays, but with growing population and a poor economy it is necessary. If genetically modified corn was not around today, something like 2 out of 5 people would not be alive today? With all the problems processing food has caused- diabetes, pesticides, fertilizers, obesity, E. Coli, it has fed a lot of people. Land is not in abundance and the population is only going to grow. As a society we need these farming and food processing techniques to be efficient, and of course there are going to be some cons as a result. It would be great if everyone could eat healthy organic food at a cheap price. It just simply is not practical in today’s world. Still, it is insightful to learn what exactly we are eating. And if we are what we eat, we are corn- even if we are not eating it off the cob.
What I got out of the readings is that Pollan was trying to make us aware of how much corn is actually in our foods. Also making us aware of what this food is actually doing to us. Pollan has stories about how certain things relate to his life, the most interesting one for me was in chapter two with the corn wheat I think it was and how they just have this stuff on the back of the trucks in America and it falls out. Now where Pollan is from this is a mark of disrespect for the food, I thought this was interesting the passage that went along with this because they use a lot of this in Mexican foods. I thought it was very interesting to get his point of view on certain things that related to his life. I don’t know if I am interpreting this wrong from the reading but I think Pollan is trying to make the point of what food is doing to us and going through all the means of the processes of food. Also chapter six talks about the consumption of the food products which I find very interesting because I am taking a sociology class in consumption and it makes me realize how we are enchanted by types of food and consume over the amount that we should.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t know half the stuff I was reading. In the first two chapters about what corn was used in and how corn relates to everything we eat. You take a product of food for granted because you don’t think it really does much in a humans diet but you find that it is involved in a lot more then just human diet. However I didn’t think corn did that much for you because I thought it was a food that the body could not break down. Is this different for animals because they are feeding the animal’s thing like chickens that we have on our tables. I thought it was very interesting though that corn syrup is in out drinks and corn is basically in everything I had to go back and read it again after I read it because I thought I miss red something. I also knew before reading that we do consume a lot when it comes to food and it is rarely the healthy things that we consume a lot of.
I am not to sure on what the argument of this piece is, I struggle to take the whole text in. I was confused with some parts when I was reading but I always do. I thought the main parts of the book was giving us back ground information of what our food is about and then this was related to some of his past experiences growing up or what they did in Mexico. I would have to agree with the things that he is saying though. Even though I am slightly unsure on the argument itself I agree with the information that has been provided about the food and the processes it goes through. I also have to agree with what he was saying in the consumption chapter I thought that was very interesting.
Pollan's dilemma is that of every omnivore: what to eat and why to eat, overanalyzing the omnivore food cultures and evaluating the hundreds of options that are available to everyone. There's so much food and much of it has such cultural significance, that what we choose to eat is important. He's approaching food and the questions of food more analytically than just "what do I have in the pantry?", although such ideas do play into the omnivore's dilemmas of what to eat.
ReplyDeleteI've learned that America's food chains are very processed and use a lot of the same ingredients to create very different dishes. Although food chains used to be much less regular and with fewer options, now the food chains are very similar in their ingredients, processes, posed health risks and suppliers, and the process by which the food is regulated and created has become much more complex over the years.
I would respond to Pollan's argument by evaluating the choices we make as American's. Yes we are faced with dilemmas and yes the food chains do not help us make good choices, but at the end of the day, we make our own decisions and should be deemed capable to do so. If I approach my dilemma by going to McDonald's or Whole Foods, it's still my life to control.
By writing The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan’s aim was to examine the evolution of American eating habits and how, as a country, we reached the point we are at today. In his book, Pollan addresses, what he refers to as, “the three principal food chains that sustain us today: the industrial, the organic, and the hunter-gatherer. In each of the book’s three sections, Pollan will focus one of the principal food chains from the time they are simply plants to the moment the foods are prepared, on our plates, and ready to eat. In the first section Pollan focused on corn, discussing its involvement in numerous amounts of foods today. He also touched on how corn was brought to our country and its rise to prominence in our diets.
ReplyDeleteWhile Pollan provided first hand accounts from a real-life, veteran corn farmer and a host of quality facts, which provided for a rather interesting read, I had already learned the just of much what he was talking about in high school. Much of the food that we eat nowadays is heavily processed. Even the animals that produce our meats are fed with low quality and heavily processed feed. It’s fact that although, we have learned a great deal about sanitation and health as time has progressed, we have, in a sense, regressed through our neglect for nutritional value. As a country, we are more educated and aware than ever; however, we choose to ignore what we know.