Pollan begins the book exploring the U.S. food system. Michael Pollan dramatically describes the role of corn in The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Corn is the main part of the of the industrial food chain, whether it is fed through livestock, eaten directly, or processed into chemicals, corn has become a commodity. As philosopher Karl Marx defines a commodity as an external object that satisfies human needs, whether indirectly or directly. Corn becoming a commodity has made the process not about the farmer but about the amount of corn produced. The government has helped shift corn to a commodity by subsidizing it and paying farmers for their corn to keep the prices down. This could lead to various negative impacts on our health over time. The corn
