The First Three Chapters of the Omnivores Dilemma
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- Category: English: Authors
- Date Submitted: 11/18/2012 02:23 PM
- Pages: 3
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When first given the assignment of reading a segment of Michael Pollan’s, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” I found myself feeling disappointed, dreading the task with every bone in my body. The assignment would consist of deciphering the beginning three chapters in the earliest part of the book titled: Industrial/Corn, where it is explained that corn is the main crop grown in America and how farmers growing it are in a vast deal of trouble. My anticipation included a long, drawn-out reading session in which I would be filled with boredom. To my surprise, I could have not been more inaccurate. While chapters one, two, and three are truly informative of the subject, they are also delightfully insightful and relatable with a relaxing, down to earth tone that grasps and holds the reader’s interest.
Chapter one, The Plant: Corn’s Conquest begins with a sturdy introduction that leads us to the place where we most commonly encounter this food, the supermarket, a site we are all familiar with. As we read on, we learn the importance of corn as it pertains to the food chain and its involvement in the many uses of our everyday lives. Pollan explains on page 19, “There are some forty-five thousand items in the average American supermarket and more than a quarter of them now contain corn.” Continuing chapter one includes learning why the corn plant is more efficient than most, how it came to colonize our land, and the arrangement in which it grows and adapts. While I admit that chapter one is so very educational that it could be described as tedious, hang in there, it becomes more interesting as chapter two commences.
We take a trip to the birthplace of corn in chapter two, The Farm. In this section of the material we are introduced to George Naylor, a corn farmer who carries on his family’s tradition of growing the plant on the Naylor farm in Iowa. Pollan shares his experience of conversation with George as he expresses how the Naylor farm came to existence, the amount...
Chapter one, The Plant: Corn’s Conquest begins with a sturdy introduction that leads us to the place where we most commonly encounter this food, the supermarket, a site we are all familiar with. As we read on, we learn the importance of corn as it pertains to the food chain and its involvement in the many uses of our everyday lives. Pollan explains on page 19, “There are some forty-five thousand items in the average American supermarket and more than a quarter of them now contain corn.” Continuing chapter one includes learning why the corn plant is more efficient than most, how it came to colonize our land, and the arrangement in which it grows and adapts. While I admit that chapter one is so very educational that it could be described as tedious, hang in there, it becomes more interesting as chapter two commences.
We take a trip to the birthplace of corn in chapter two, The Farm. In this section of the material we are introduced to George Naylor, a corn farmer who carries on his family’s tradition of growing the plant on the Naylor farm in Iowa. Pollan shares his experience of conversation with George as he expresses how the Naylor farm came to existence, the amount...