The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals is a nonfiction book written by American author Michael Pollan published in 2006.

Technology has made foods that were previously seasonal or regional available year round and in all regions. The relationship between food and society, once moderated by culture, is now confused. To teach more about those choices, Pollan describes various food chains that end in human food: industrial food, organic food, and food we forage ourselves; from the source to a final meal, and in the process writes a critique of the American method of eating.

Pollan describes the large-scale farms and food-processing facilities that largely satisfy surging demand for organic food. The author intends to demonstrate that, despite the group's rhetoric, the virtues advertised are often questionable. For example, an operation raising "free-range" chicken has only a tiny yard available, largely unused by the short-lived birds. Pollan also accuses large-scale organic agriculture of "floating on a sinking sea of petroleum" by analysing that a one-pound box of California-produced organic lettuce – that contains 80 food calories – requires 4,600 calories of fossil fuel to process and ship to the East Coast. He adds that the quantity would be only "about 4 percent higher if the salad were grown conventionally".

On veganism: Pollan argues that to "give up" human consumption of animals would result in a "food chain…even more dependent than it already is on fossil fuels and chemical fertilizers since food would need to travel even farther and fertility—- in the form of manures—- would be in short supply". This is because, according to Pollan, in some grassy areas, growing grains or other plant foods is not a viable alternative to raising ruminants for human consumption.

ISBN: 978-1-59420-082-3