The Omnivore's Dilemma Research Essay

The Omnivore's Dilemma Research Essay

Introduction

The Omnivore's Dilemma is a book written by Michael Pollan which observes how the people of America eat, by scheduling and eating a total of 3 meals. The first one represents "industrial agriculture", described as the foods majority of people consume most of the times, either from fast-food restaurants or supermarkets (Pollan, 2006). The second one symbolizes "organic agriculture", and the third one hunted, collected, and foods grown by oneself i.e. "eating off the grid". However, the part of the book that is the most interesting one is unquestionably the section that explains what is industrial, how is it made, how is it fed by fossil fuels, and in what way it has captured the land. Corn is one of the most widely grown crops in the world. In recent decades, modern chemistry and other industrial processes have changed corn from something people ate at the dinner table to something in almost everything people eat. In fact, it is in much of what they use as well: Corn is now a part of an industrial food chain, as well as the source in part or in whole of a myriad of products.

Thesis Statement

As an always rising supply of corn has been developed, it has made a commodity that is foundational to industrially processed products and food.

Discussion

Part 1 in the book is industrial agriculture. Certainly, this theme revolves around the issue that how the policies of this country have transformed agriculture from a small business or craft, into a huge industry, changing the whole food chain into a solo industrial procedure with one major input and quite a lot of outputs. That one main input is corn. The existing system of the country effectively compels a number of farmers to not just cultivate corn, but to produce as much corn as actually possible on their territory, each year, with utmost use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers (Planck, 2008). For the reason that their government subsidies are founded on bushels, the more corn they take to the grain elevator, the more their proceeds, and phase ending of sentence. This compels corn production on a higher level which is certainly above the actual demand. What that denotes is that prices fall, denoting that subsidies go down each year or so; however, that just denotes the farmer is provoked to bring more and more corn to the elevator.

Historical Background

Historically, the ideal use of corn was as a food. The kernels of corn can be eaten directly off of the cob after boiling, roasting or steaming. Or the kernels can be cut off, cooked, and eaten while still fresh. Corn on the cob can be eaten with butter and salted for flavor (Mason & Singer, 2007). Street vendors can be seen selling corn on the cob on the streets in the United States, in China, and in other places in the world, where it is eaten like a Popsicle on a stick. In Mexico, corn on the cob ...