Omnivores Dilemma

While I do like Michael Pollan’s writing style, I believe his angst to make an interesting story occasionally obstructs the scientific accuracy even if slightly. He made misstatement many time when trying to convey a point but two on pages 20 and 21 made me want to immediately point this out. The first is when he says “After water, carbon is the most common element in our body”, well no carbon IS the most common element, water isn’t an element. The second was when he said “It is more than a figure of speech to say life is created out of thin air” air is a combination of molecules many of which are not required for photosynthesis. This may be very nit-picky, however when writing a book trying to make scientific points a certain level of credibility needs to be maintained. It makes me nervous that he sacrifices that for entertainment value. I enjoyed Pollans use of George the corn farmer from Iowa in this book. He is the focus of Pollan early on, and he takes us through his trip to Georges farm, but what I enjoyed was how Georges family and farm were used. Michael continuously references Georges grandfather and father when referencing historical periods in agriculture, this takes mundane history and gives it more texture. I couldn’t help but feel bad for the cows in the feedlot described by Michael. When he was describing how the corn they eat made them bloat and develop sores in their intestines. It sounds extremely painful and makes me question eating beef coming from feed lots. One thing I did not know that I found fascinating was that the manure from these feedlot cows, which I thought to be “farmers gold” was completely rejected by farmers due to high levels of antibiotics, hormones and other chemicals.

Michael Pollan (2007). Omnivores & Dilemma: A natural history of four meals. London, United Kingdom: Penguin Books.