Omnivore's Dilemma Explored

The world continues to face a wide-scale food crisis. The effects of this crisis reach from the farmers who grow and raise the food to the very system of laws that are in place to govern the system itself. Food giants are reaching deep into their pockets for lobbying in order to take advantage of both the producers and the consumer all in the name of profit. Moreover, farmers are being driven to suicide, and the ecosystem’s livelihood is treading a fine line. Both Michael Pollan and Raj Patel bring to light these problems and offer suggestions to help lessen their severity. Though there are many philosophies on which they both agree, they both have their own ideas to fight back. Pollan seeks to challenge the consumer as an individual while

The answers Pollan offers to the seemingly straightforward question posed by this book have profound political, economic, psychological, and even moral implications for all of us. Beautifully written and thrillingly argued, The Omnivore’s Dilemma promises to change the

The social and environmental interests are not adequately accounted for. By putting patents on their seeds, farmers are forced to buy new seeds each year. In India most farmers have to take out loans to be able to afford seeds and they are not protected by government subsidies. The weather has a huge influence on their income and unpredictable weather can wipe out their entire crop, whereas in the past these farmers would save their seeds as an insurance policy against the weather but now Monsanto does not allow them to do this. The Indian government directly links the introduction of Monsanto’s GM seeds as the root cause behind the sharp increase in farmer suicides. The Indian farmers are figuring out that the biotechnology revolution has a huge effect on their crop lands and personal debt levels. This all started in 1998 when the World Bank underwent structural adjustments and changed some of their policies which forced India to open up its seed sector to global corporations like Monsanto, Cargill and Syngenta (www.counterpunch.org., 2016). These global corporations changed India’s agricultural economy because Monsanto’s seeds require Monsanto fertilizers and pesticides which adds costs on top of being unable to save seeds. Monsanto does not meet the characteristics of this paradigm with the lack of social and environmental responsibility due to the corporations’ business structure and board intentions.

Throughout the book “Stuffed and Starved”, Raj Patel, the author, makes connections between the current state of the world food system, and the Malthusian and Rhodes dilemmas, the first, proposing that the world population is growing exponentially, but the resources to feed this growing population are finite, whereas the second suggests that hunger leads to unrest, hence as long as people are kept fed, they won't revolt. Patel sections the system and points out to the defects at all levels—starting from the fundamental unit—the seed, going broader touching upon redistributors, consumers, corporations, and, above all, governments and policies. The five major areas Patel criticizes I would like to emphasize are: prevalent selection of desirable

Michael Pollan the author of Omnivore 's Dilemma discusses and asks, “what should we have for dinner?” He attempts to answer one of the pressing questions of sustainability in today 's society, to save money or to save the planet, and how? Pollan talks about how humans are omnivores and we have the choice to eat whatever we want, no matter the health and sustainability implications of our decisions. Pollan discusses three main food chains, industrial (corn), organic, and hunter/gatherer. He analyzes each food chain, learning eating industrial is basically eating corn, and goes into the complex issues

What am I exactly eating? Where does our food come from? Why should I care? “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” may forever change the way you think about food. I enjoyed Mr. Pollan’s book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and learned a great deal of information. Pollan’s book is a plea for us to stop and think for a moment about our whole process of eating. Pollan sets out to corn fields and natural farms, goes hunting and foraging, all in the name of coming to terms with where food really comes from in modern America and what the ramifications are for the eaters, the eaten, the economy and the environment. The results are far more than I expected them to be.

Pollan goes on to suggest that there are many different approaches to the food movement, and although the movement seems splintered and “sometimes the various factions […] work at cross purposes,” the author uses some highly credible sources to show that despite its many offshoots, a cohesion of the masses has taken root in the food movement (par.11). The author uses big names like Troy Duster, who is a renowned research sociologist from Northwestern University, to help clarify his point. Troy duster states that “viewed from a middle distance, then, the food movement coalesces around the recognition that todays food and farming economy is unsustainable, […] that it can’t go on in its current form much longer without courting a breakdown of some kind.” (Par. 13). The author then clarifies his point but stating that “the food system consumes more fossil fuel energy than we can count on in the future […] and emits more greenhouse gases than we can afford to emit.” (Par. 14). Pollan uses his sources as an ethical appeal to the readers, which effectively connects the reader to the article and its

In the omnivore’s dilemma, Pollan talks about a farmer who uses natural methods, using natural tools such as symbiosis for his crops and farm animals. That can solve all our issues including water wastage and pollution that results from mass production. Farmers in Mexico couldn’t compete with the cheap corn the U.S. was producing and so did many other countries. If we could create a sustainable farming system where a country can provide for its people and not worry so much about profit, We could be a better world. Imagine all the lives we could save and how we could reverse climate change and global warming. No more famines and

Michael Pollan, in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, advocates for organic, locally grown foods. He contends that processed foods, unlike organic foods, are

Pollan received an outstanding education at Bennington College, followed by Oxford University, and finally concluded his impressive schooling by attending one of most highly ranked schools for journalism, Columbia University. Among other things, Pollen has been received as the Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and has been received as a columnist and editor for numerous esteemed newspapers, including The New York Times. As a contributor to some of the most prestigious periodicals and as a Knight professor in multiple fields of journalism, this verifies Michael Pollan’s record of clean and accurate writing and displays his dedication for the field, which both carry over to his book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma. In addition to his contributions to a variety of periodicals, Pollan has published over 10 books on food consumption and food production, some of which have earned him a place in the top ten books list by both The New York Times and The Washington Post, a win for the James Beard Award, and a nomination for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In more ways than one, Pollan has

When I first looked at the book The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, my first thoughts were that I was not going to be fascinated by a book about organic food and factory farms. When I started to indulge myself into the book I started to consider how much hard work, and time it took to get an entire meal onto my plate. Each meal, with its different ingredients, all have unique paths from which they have come from. The main notion that stayed with me throughout the entirety of the novel were the use of industrial farm systems. These factory farms completely contradict my false perception of a red barn and miles of seemingly endless pasture, filled with cattle. In these industrial farms one of the most frightening aspects, other than the slaughtering of innocent animal, is there standard of living. For example, when Mr. Pollen went to the Petaluma “organic” farm many of the Cornish Chickens were so congested together that by their

1. Farmers will continue to suffer financially as several lawsuits continue to be on the rise, which accuses suspected farmers of stealing “intellectual property” due to their crops becoming cross contaminated with Monsanto’s pesticides and

The modern economy consists of the commodification of everything. From education to tourist attractions, it’s no surprise that food and land has been manipulated to produce monetary outputs. What was once considered simply means of survival has evolved into an industry dominated by corporations that use unsustainable methods of production, therefore rapidly exhausting our natural resources. The shift from traditional farming with appropriate appreciation for the environment has long been discarded in many regions and replaced with monopolies which place quantity over quality. Agricultural minorities have begun to demand the restoration of old means of farming but have been criticized that regression can have no positive outcomes. By returning the sovereignty over food to small-scale farmers and rural groups, are we moving backwards or is it just a familiar revision to improve the future of agriculture?

If countries like Mexico adopt global farming techniques, problems such as these would not exist, or at least the results would not be as severe. In the 1980’s, Ethiopia’s inability to sufficiently use their land for farming received worldwide attention as their people were starving to death.

4. 2009 RVHS Year 5 End of Year Exams Paper CSQ1: Challenges of the Agricultural Sector