Has Micheal Pollan changed how you eat?

Anthony :

With all do respect to the author, Mr. Pollan has not changed the way I eat. He has in some way changed the way I think about food before I read the book. But as a young male in modern society I have literally been forced what to eat. Being caught up in fast food and the cheapest item on the self at the grocery store has been embedded in to my way of living since as far back as i can remember.

What really stuck with me after reading this book though, was the fact that the average North American has more corn in their diet then people from South American country's whom are known to have very corn based traditional meals. This is simply because everything is either a product of corn or in the case of the animals we eat, are feed corn.

My own personal reason for not changing my diet after reading this book is very simple actually. It's the fact that if you want to live healthy to Mr. Pollan's standards, you would have to have a lot of money just for food. 

You see what this book doesn't mention is that when the manufactures use corn it brings down the price of the item in question. There for when it gets to your table it's not $6.99 a pound.    

All in all corn is great. It has kept our society going from one day to the next. As far as I'm concerned if everybody listened to Mr. Pollan's literature, a lot of jobs would be lost in the farming and agricultural industry overnight. The corn market might collapse, and as we all know our society is practically built on the stuff.

Well that's all I have to say. Thanks for reading our blog. Happy eating to you!

Finally....

I hope you enjoyed our blog. This will be the last entry.

Chef Reid, we would appreciate it if you viewed our blog online, as it looks much better than the printouts we are giving you.

The website is: http://cornomnivores.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading!

What is Michael Pollen trying to tell us?

Brenan:

Overall, I thought this book was incredible. It informed me of some of the atrocities that I have been consuming my whole life.  I think in the chapter "corn" what Mr Pollan is simply telling you to ask your self is:  How did my vegetables come to be, What is in the meat am I consuming, and What is in the fast food our nation has come to eat on a regular basis?

The answers to these questions can only truely be answered by the individual, and I think that is what he was really trying to push. Forcing the nation to eat more healthy, one book sale at a time.

What would you cook for Michael Pollan?

Brenan:

If I were to cook for Michael Pollan, I would make him Bison Tenderloin, which I was happy to recently learn is all grass fed, and there is a large producer in Alberta hoping to bring them back.  The wonderful thing about bison is they eat grass, but unlike cattle, they aren't greedy, and they only eat the tops of grass, this way the grass grows back twice as fast, and is twice as sustainable.  I would wrap the tenderloin in wild boar bacon, since bison doesn't have much fat marbling.  I would go foraging for wild mushrooms and hope to find some chantrelles! I would saute the mushrooms in garlic and butter.  I would also serve it with ramps, roasted at a low temperature and then finished in the same pan the mushrooms were cooked in. i would deglaze the pan and finish it with some sort of demi.

I would have a very hard time not eating it all before it got to the table though.

"Have you ever grown your own food? Has that changed the eating experience?"

Brenan: 


Yesterday, I walked onto my balcony to water my two beautiful F-1 tomato plants that I've been growing this summer, to discover that i had a very nice and plump beefsteak tomato that was ready for the plucking. I thought about it and decided that I would just have to eat it fresh, to really get the most out of it. I feel as though nothing could be better than growing your own food.  You have the guarantee that they will be pesticide free, organic, what ever you deem necessary.   When I first bought my two tomato plants I hadn't read The Omnivores Dilemma, and after reading in a few chapters I found out what the F-1 on the tag actually meant. I was a little dissapointed that the delicous tomato I enjoyed so throughly was actually a first generation plant mutation, but I got over it after I took a bite. 


Unfortunately here in the city it is a little difficult to completely sustain yourself on food you grow, but when i finish school and have a few free hours on my hands i plan to explore toronto as a hunter gatherer.  I've heard the don valley has plenty of wild mushrooms, and even fiddleheads when they're in season. 


So in conclusion, the overall eating experience when you grow your own food changes it completely.  The feeling of accomplishment is almost overwelming, never mind the taste!


Here is a picture of my beautiful tomatoes!

What concerns you about the way you eat or the way your food is created?

Daisy:

A lot of the times I worry that I might not be eating too healthily, because of all the processed inorganic food I eat. Like I said before, I am not a big fast food consumer, but that does not mean I do not go to the local grocery store to pick up some pre-cut, pre-packaged chicken and bottled salad dressing. I do have the option of making that dressing myself, or butchering a nice whole, grass-fed, organic chicken myself. But realistically, who has the time. And, as an unemployed student, who has the money? But what I do realize is that sooner or later, I will have to begin thinking smarter about my food and help others do the same. There is a history of diabetes, as well as colon cancer in my family, so I am aware that someone like me has to be more cautious in terms of what I eat.

How did the stories of George Naylor in Iowa help Michael Pollan to understand and communicate his subject?

Daisy:

Pollan really wanted to follow the process of corn from the fields and the farms, to the dinner table. He also wanted to see how this entire system was treating the farmers of middle America. His stories about Naylor helped give perspective to the readers in terms of how farming was like, from back when Naylor's grandfather operated the farm to now.