The Omnivore's Dilemma Summary

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American Food? What is really in our food? That is a question that a lot of Americans do not know the answer to. In Chapter 8 of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan explains that most Americans eat what is quick or easy. We eat fast food in the car on our way to work, and snack in between meals. We as omnivores have access to lots of different foods, but we don’t know which foods to avoid, and which foods we should consume to be healthy. Pollan argues that Americans do not take the time to understand the contents of the food they eat. He supports his claim by pointing out that there is no real food culture in America, that Americans follow popular food fads, and describing how Americans rely on food scientists to decide their next meal. …show more content…
Fast-food hamburgers don’t count as “American food”. People can feel lost in a supermarket, filled with processed foods shipped from thousands of miles away. Pollan adds, “Today, the modern omnivore has almost no culture to fall back on. Standing in our giant supermarkets, we feel more lost than someone standing in a forest ten thousand years ago” (103). This quote displays that today humans have many more choices that people did ten thousand years ago. The quote also shows that people in a forest a long time ago had an idea of what they were looking for, and humans today don’t know what they are looking for in their massive grocery stores. Next, Pollan explains how Americans get caught up in food and diet fads. People will follow absurd ideas about staying healthy. “In 2002, one article in the New York Times Magazine said that carbs make you fat. Suddenly millions of Americans gave up bread and other carbohydrates and started eating mainly meat” (111). This shows that Americans will follow questionable ideas about food that aren’t necessarily true to try to stay