Book
Pollan M. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: Penguin Press; 2006. 464 p.
Why we cite it
Traces four food chains from source to plate — industrial (corn to McDonald’s), industrial organic (Whole Foods), pastoral (Polyface Farm), and personal (hunted/foraged) — to reveal the ecological, economic, and cultural systems behind what we eat. Provides investigative detail on corn’s dominance in the American food system and the gap between organic marketing narratives and industrial organic reality.
About the author
Michael Pollan is the Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley (2003–2021) and Professor of the Practice of Nonfiction at Harvard (2017–present). He has been a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine since 1987. Named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People (2010). Six of his books became New York Times bestsellers. The Omnivore’s Dilemma was named one of the ten best books of 2006 by both the New York Times and the Washington Post, won the James Beard Award for best food writing, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
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