The Omnivore's Dilemma Ch. 2, 6 and 7

While reading The Omnivore's Dilemma it's easy to picture what Michael Pollan is describing. He does a wonderful job of outlining exactly what it looks like, and that depth within his writing allows the reader, me, to stay with him in his explanations and friendly story telling. In chapter two Pollan begins to describe the farm and the methodology of farming the Iowa farmer George Naylor. Pollan speaks of his friend the farmer in a admirable way, and the story of Naylor's life is one that you'd hear from a grandparent around Christmas time. It's humbling to hear of the life of someone who lives off the land, mostly because that's becoming rare these days. There has been such a change in the corn industry that even the honest farmer has boughten into the idea of hybrid breeds of corn which can withstand the complimenting pesticides and the yield increasing use of special fertilizers. This change in the industry is innovative, yet tragic. The changes in corn have helped the plant become the booming commodity it is today, however inflation has created even more work for the farmer. A corn planter needs twice as much crop to make the same lousy amount of money that he could yield before the transformation. Corn is cheap these days.

Moving on to chapter six, Pollan begins to discuss what all this cheap corn has turned into. Due to the excess amount of the commodity corn is being made into much more than a side dish at the dinner table. Sweeteners, alcohol, cereal, even twinkies are derived from the yellow stuff. These items are now more readily available, and cheap, so the sales rise and so does the number on the scales in American households. Obesity is a raging problem in the United States largely because of the cheap calories produced from corn and fed to thrifty Americans. There is such an emphasis on weight in our culture and this critical factor makes Pollan's point hit home. We don't eat as healthy as we should, it is going to hurt us as a society, and yet it seems the only thing being done about it is creating more and more of the stuff that's hurting us.