The Book Club meeting this month was held in Middelburg.
The chosen book was The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan.
As usual we first discussed where we had been able to obtain the book with the usual diversity of answers, - Amazon, Bol.com, library, download and De Drukkerij, (Middelburg multi- media shop on the market).
Amazon Germany (Amazon.co.de) offer free post and packing to The Netherlands.
As it’s possible to buy fairly cheap books in English from Amazon, this could be a better option better than Bol.com, despite the fact that this particular book could be bought from Bol.com on a buy 2 get one free list. Check the websites regularly, Bol.com in particular quite often has special offers and now has a 2nd hand English language book section.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma is a meticulously researched book written by journalist Michael Pollan. He charts the industrialization of food production in America, a process largely related to corn, and describes some contrasting farming methods relating to crops and animals, tracing the food on our plate back to its original components. The book is divided into the sections, industrial (the food we mainly eat), pastoral (“organic”), and personal (hunted, foraged or cultivated at home). Although he makes attempts at humour to lighten the tone of the book it is ultimately pessimistic, and the description of the treatment of farm animals is unpleasant.
Not everyone had managed to complete the book but we had all retained some of the facts which led to a lively discussion. We all felt that we would have also liked to have some insight into European farming methods, are they the same given that we have a very different food culture?
The topics we discussed included:
The solo, eat- on- the- go culture replacing family meals at a set time, children being disassociated from food, - is meat animal?
The 1980’s low fat campaign, which led to the eating of bigger portions, super sizing, the result of cynical marketing and the world- wide obesity problem.
African agriculture, which still has mixed crop farms with less intensive meat production, and the need for moderation and restraint in our eating habits.
The ecological cost of the transportation of organic food which generally travels further than non-organic.
Overpopulation as a direct result of mass production methods with future generations having less choice, and maybe even experiencing food as luxury.
The reduction in the quality of food with relation to taste and texture, the prevalence of disease, maybe as a direct consequence of our unhealthy diet and the cost of “healthy” food as opposed to “junk” food.
Independent Food Institutes, as found in Britain and France.
We were all concerned that the total production process costs more calories than the resultant product contains, (at a ratio of 10:1), and according to Pollan, food production in America uses more energy than that needed to fuel American cars. He does not, however, after unsettling us sufficiently to motivate us towards wanting to change our diets, offer any solutions, other than suggesting that the most efficient way to eat is to use basic product rather than processed. It would appear that processed is bad, meat is cruel (and possibly more unhealthy than we imagined), and organic just another way of squeezing more money out of us to ease our consciences about the treatment of the animals we’ll subsequently eat and the land that we’re systematically destroying.
As an experiment, in the final section of the book, he produces his perfect meal, hunted, grown, foraged and magically plucked from the air (yeast culture used for bread), thus avoiding ingredients which have been mass manufactured.
Should you really want to, if perhaps you’re suitably motivated by the revelations in this book, it is possible to follow his example and avoid industrial agriculture.
You’ll just have to spend all day every day doing it, and, quite possibly, the energy you use on the gathering, hunting foraging, preparation and cooking, will far exceed the total amount of energy you manage to obtain for your nourishment.
Dilemma indeed.
We gave this book 3.5 out of 5
Eet smakelijk iedereen.
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