The Omnivore's Dilemma: Part 4 (17-20)
The last section of Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” focuses on Pollan’s personal interactions with food, as the readers are immersed in his attempt of making a whole meal that is supposedly “perfect.” He hunts, gathers, and uses nothing from industrialized companies in order to attain his definition of a perfect meal. Throughout this section, Pollan continues to question the problems that society faces because of the way we eat.
What I found to be extremely interesting was that Pollan actually ended the book with him making a full meal that extracted from all of the lessons and knowledge he had gained throughout his research. He shot a pig which he “enjoyed…a whole lot more than [he] ever thought [he] would,” gathered vegetables, and even went out of found wild yeast to make his own bread! To be honest, I had no idea that you could go out and find wild yeast, however to Pollan “gathering wild yeast [turned] out to be no big deal.”Personally, I thought that this showed lots of dedication towards executing the message that he was trying to portray. If this part of the book was excluded from the story, I do not think that Pollan’s idea would have resonated quite as deeply as it did. His precise decision of putting this at the end of the book really helped his case, because it is something that will truly stick with the readers, and will have a larger impact on them.
While reading this part, it made me think that Pollan was not even part of the 21st century at this point. He made everything completely from scratch, even if he had all of the resources right in front of him that were easily accessible. This section allowed me to remember a similar aspect that came from a different collection of books that I used to read when I was younger called “Little House on the Prairie.” The characters in this book lived in the woods many years ago, and had to gather all of their food themselves, without the help of grocery stores or large industries. It allowed me to realize how much of a difference there was when comparing today’s food society, with the food society that occurred long ago.
After focusing on what Pollan personally did, I decided to try and think about how Pollan’s idea could relate to the world we currently live in. I do not think it is realistic for the population to convert to Pollan’s beliefs of making everything a “perfect” meal. He announces “[he] seriously doubts that any of [his] guests would…declare this a “great meal” but for [him] it was the perfect meal, which is not quite the same thing.” This is a much slower, more inconvenient process. Pollan was able to achieve this project because he had the resources, and time to go to these different places to shoot a pig and harvest produce, however if we relate this to our lives in Shanghai, it would be much harder to do so. This is the case for many different cities and countries around the world. If you live in an urban city, it will be much more difficult to attain produce that you picked with your bare hands, or to find an animal and shoot it with a gun that you don’t have, therefore making it impossible! Despite Pollan’s argument having a definite purpose, I do not think that it will succeed around the world due to how our society has developed. We are now a fast moving community, and therefore people have found newer and better ways to obtain what they consume. Although it may not be the most natural, or healthiest option, it is not completely terrible and yet still manages to satisfy our basic needs.
While reading the section regarding vegetarianism and veganism, it made me think of my own life, and how I have actually seen people go from an omnivore, to a vegetarian, to a vegan. This situation happened because of a book called (excuse my language) “Skinny Bitch.” “Skinny Bitch” is similar to Pollan’s book because it goes in depth into the torture that is caused onto animals, and how it is impacting their lives as well as ours. I referenced this very similar book because it enhances Pollan’s point about how it is impacting many people, making Pollan’s argument more persuasive. Although I am not one to “convert” to the philosophy stated in “Skinny Bitch” as well as what Pollan stated about vegetarianism and veganism, I do believe that his ideas will definitely resonate on many people around the world who have access to a lifestyle like this.
Overall, I do think that Pollan had successfully persuaded me into believing what he has said as a whole in his book. There are definitely many problems in the way that food is being industrialized, however I do not exactly think that there is a feasible way to change what is happening in today’s community. It is a much different world now and I think that people need to accept that. Things may not be how they were before, however despite the hardships there are definite outcomes that come about.