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Omnivores's Dilemna????  

post #1 of 33
5/26/08 at 7:19pm
Thread Starter 
Has anyone out there read Omnivores's Dilemma? If you have what did you think, is it a good read? And can you please explaine the refrence Long live grass to me?

A friend recently sourced it.

Thanks!
post #2 of 33
5/26/08 at 9:58pm
I haven't read it, but I've just ordered it from Amazon.
post #3 of 33
5/27/08 at 12:20am
I loved it! I have it out on loan to a coworker. I actually bought it a year before I read it. Started kind of slow for me, or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for that type of book at the time. Once I got into it though, I LOVED it! It's really about the ethics of our food choices and he follows a food product through the main types of production: mainstream/factory farm, traditional/sustainable farm and wild foraging. Very interesting stuff.

The "grass" thing has to do with the sustainable farm. The farmer he is following makes the point that he is really a "grass farmer" as opposed to a cattle farmer or tomato farmer or whatever. That we have evolved to be dependent upon a grass-based food chain. It makes more sense when you read it lol!

Definitely and I also liked the follow-up In Defense of Food which focused more on the health repercussions of food choices.
post #4 of 33
5/27/08 at 12:45am
I haven't read either one yet.
post #5 of 33
5/27/08 at 3:15am
I loved it. I recommend it to anyone interested in food and/or sustainability.
post #6 of 33
5/27/08 at 10:26am
Thread Starter 
Thanks everyone! Now I really want to read it.
post #7 of 33
5/27/08 at 8:58pm
Loved it, too. Very engaging read -- I now want to run away and become a "grass farmer!" It had me thinking about our whole food "system" in ways I had never considered. For instance, I'd never thought about the revolution that occurred the first time a farmer applied synthetic fertilizer to his/her firelds thereby taking it out of the "local, sun-driven cycle." p 44

...of course, I haven't been able to eat anything since I started the book. I think I'd truly starve to death if I read it's companion, In Defense of Food
post #8 of 33
5/27/08 at 9:00pm
great book!
post #9 of 33
5/27/08 at 9:04pm
It's a lovely book. Great information, and really well written too. It makes things so obvious, that you won't be able to understand why everyone isn't rethinking their food system!
post #10 of 33
5/27/08 at 10:03pm
I liked it a lot. The the book on food that always stands out in my mind most is Dominion: The Power of Man the Suffering of Animals. Written by a conservative christian who the factories thought was 'one of them' it is a fascinating, disturbing book.

But Omnivores Dilemma is too.
post #11 of 33
6/5/08 at 12:58pm
This was on a list of books to read but now I am going to get it at the library today. Thanks everyone.
post #12 of 33
6/5/08 at 1:01pm
The beginning section was a bit of a snoozer (Corn) and several people I recommended it to gave up because of that, but it gets much better and is an excellent book.

Also, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver is another great read on the same subject.
post #13 of 33
6/5/08 at 2:53pm
Great book! I got it for my b-day and loved what I have read (for some reason pregnant brain isn't allowing me to read much).
Now I have In Defense of Food to read once I manage to finish the other one. But I am really finding it fascinating!

My dh read it, loved it, and it completely changed his views of food and he has become just as conscious about our food as I am, it's great!
post #14 of 33
6/5/08 at 2:54pm
Oh, I have also really wanted to read Barbara Kingsolver's book, too!
post #15 of 33
6/5/08 at 5:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fek&fuzz View Post
The beginning section was a bit of a snoozer (Corn) and several people I recommended it to gave up because of that, but it gets much better and is an excellent book.

Also, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver is another great read on the same subject.
Thanks for the tip I love Barbara Kingsolver.
post #16 of 33
6/6/08 at 2:51am
It's really good. I've liked anything I've read by Michael Pollan (The Botany of Desire, and whatever the gardening one was called.) I actually really liked the corn section, it was informative.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle also good.
post #17 of 33
6/6/08 at 5:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hera View Post
It's really good. I've liked anything I've read by Michael Pollan (The Botany of Desire, and whatever the gardening one was called.) I actually really liked the corn section, it was informative.
The gardening one was "Second Nature" - awesome.

A lot of Pollan's articles are on his website: http://www.michaelpollan.com/write.php

good if Omnivore's Dilemma is a little heavy for you. I loved the parts on corn but I actually studied a lot of that in college, and I can see how many readers would just say 'enough already'.
post #18 of 33
6/9/08 at 1:54pm
Loved the book. Not just informative but actually very well written and a good read too.

I liked Animal Veg Miracle too, but more from the fun farming stuff -- I dream about having chickens and a vegetable garden like that one day!
post #19 of 33
6/9/08 at 4:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Periwinkle View Post
Loved the book. Not just informative but actually very well written and a good read too.

I liked Animal Veg Miracle too, but more from the fun farming stuff -- I dream about having chickens and a vegetable garden like that one day!
This is good to know, I'm going to request it from my lib as I have thought about getting chickens.
post #20 of 33
6/13/08 at 5:28pm
LOVED it. Fabulous book. All of Michael Pollan's stuff is wonderful.

I, too, enjoyed the part about corn. Perhaps it's because I'm from the Midwest.

I'm currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, but I don't like it nearly as much.
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