Monday, April 24, 2006

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

In this wonderful book, Pollan traces the food chain through four meals: McDonald's, Whole Foods, a home-cooked one from a sustainable farm, and one that he hunted-and-gathered. You will perhaps not be surprised that McDonald's doesn't fare well (although his analysis of its failings is much better than the usual screed), but what was truly amazing was his smackdown of Whole Foods, which he finds to be not much better than McD's despite its pretentions and price tag. The lengthy description of the sustainable farm was enough to convince me to get to the farmers' market this week (I'm not kidding), and the gathering of mushrooms was interesting enough to compensate for the overly philosophical ruminations on hunting. Highly recommended.

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