Green Group discussion

Looks like we'll be reading The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals in August. Please prepare your hearts, minds, and library request lists accordingly :)

I'm new to GoodReads and to this group, so hello to everyone! I got my copy of The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals ready and I'll soon start reading it.

Right now I'm reading Terra: Our 100-Million-Year-Old Ecosystem--and the Threats That Now Put It at Risk but I will finish it soon.

I will have to check my library for this book. I hope they have it!

Alexandru-I've been trying to work my way through Terra, but since I own a copy, it seems to get bumped out of the way every time my library books pile up.

I have already read The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, which is actually good. Will give me time to catch up with all the other books!

I have just finished it and quite enjoyed it. I wrote a brief review here

I put this ebook on hold at the library.

It's a quick read, Jennbunny. I think I defeated the purpose by eating Skittles while reading it.

LOL funny. I'm not sure how many are ahead of me. I forgot to look.

Hi all! I'm new to this group, and I have Omnivore's Dilemma on my bookshelf but haven't read it yet. This looks like a great opportunity to do so!

Welcome to the group Emily!

Emily wrote: "Hi all! I'm new to this group, and I have Omnivore's Dilemma on my bookshelf but haven't read it yet. This looks like a great opportunity to do so!"

Yes! Join us! I haven't started reading the book yet so didn't feel like you are behind...

Welcome! I hope you manage to read it! Don't feel like August is a deadline, I only finished one of the books from last month...it's not uncommon for discussion to spill over into other months.

i downloaded the book this morning and started reading it, breaking my rule of reading two e-books simultaneously. the other e-book i'm reading right now is over 800 pages, sooo....

anyway, i thought it was interesting how excited he was about bread. after reading Pandora's Seed, i haven't quite looked at grains/wheat the same way again.

I'm a vegetarian, soon to be vegan but I was curious about this book so I gave it a try. I liked the chapter about corn and also the way Joel Salatin ran his farm. I learned a few things about the industrial side of the organic method and I loved the "beyond organic" one.

Anything related to meat and animals raised in mega-farms was a sad reminder of how things work; for me there is no going back to meat eating.

I apparently have a lot of problems with Michael Pollan's writing style. I was vegan for over ten years and hardcore vegetarian for fifteen. I don't eat much meat or dairy now that I'm not vegetarian anymore, but I do cook with animal products at home. It's very complex why I started eating meat again but the experience of it will make me extremely critical of this book, I think. I have Compassionate Carnivore: Or, How to Keep Animals Happy, Save Old Macdonald's Farm, Reduce Your Hoofprint, and Still Eat Meat as well, and will likely compare how the meat issue is presented in the two books.

(And don't worry alexandru, I would never try to convince you that it's okay for you to eat meat and dairy...!)

Anyway, eating in general has become very political and even if a person eats very little meat or none at all, one must still take into consideration where the food is coming from, and one of the biggest issues for me is how farmhands are treated and paid. I have no idea if this issue will show up or not in this book (I have only read the corn chapter so far), but I do think it's relevant to the conversation. No?

It is relevant. I don't think it comes up in this book, but definitely good to know about.

I eat meat, but a lot of the meat I eat is game. Game I have hunted and prepared myself, so I know exactly where it is from. I eat some beef and poultry, but I get a lot of it from relatives' farms, and most of them only keep a few animals and mostly raise crops.

I am number 2 on the wait list now.

Kirsten wrote: "It is relevant. I don't think it comes up in this book, but definitely good to know about.

I eat meat, but a lot of the meat I eat is game. Game I have hunted and prepared myself, so I know exac..."

So far it's not coming up in the book so i won't worry about it too much for this discussion. :D

i'm still deep in the corn part of the book and although i get really irritated with Pollan's writing at times (especially in the first two chapters), i am learning and thinking a lot. This book is definitely revealing about messed up our food supply has become. i'm also reading As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto, which is very interesting because these letter were written in the 1950s and 1960s. during part of that time Julia Child was in France and i think it's very interesting when Julia and Avis discuss changes in farming and what's available in France versus the U.S., etc. Somehow it ties in really nicely with the issues that Pollan is describing, and how they developed over the past century.

I definitely agree. The book is super interesting, especially because I live in upper edge of the corn belt. It really made me think about the economy of the state. Long ago I wrote a term paper on Ethanol and biofuels, and this really brought that back up to the surface of my brain.

I'll check that book out, looks really cool.

Sorry I've been AWOL, just had surgery...kind of trying to slowly return to life.

I have recently begun The Omnivore's Dilemma as well and am deep in corn. Did anyone see the documentary "King Corn"? We just watched it the other night, and it looks at the exact same corn issues, although not on as detailed a level as the book. I am also wondering if anyone has read the kids' version of The Omnivore's Dilemma. I'm considering using it with my students but haven't read that version at all yet.

I just got this one from the library. I should be able to start it in a day or two!

Leanne wrote: "I have recently begun The Omnivore's Dilemma as well and am deep in corn. Did anyone see the documentary "King Corn"? We just watched it the other night, and it looks at the exact same corn issues,..."

I haven't, Leanne, but I probably should do that.

I'm well into the section about Polyface Farm, now, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm a little disturbed about some USDA policies, but can't say I'm surprised. Just feeling really disappointed right now, and frustrated that things got so out of whack in just about one generation. This weekend I picked up Fresh: A
Perishable History and I'm looking forward to reading it.

I started this book yesterday. Wow corn is in everything!

jennbunny wrote: "I started this book yesterday. Wow corn is in everything!"

yeah, it's crazy! and upsetting. but i am relieved that my tortilla chips are not made with that nasty #2 corn.

i am almost finished with the book and i'm curious to know Kirsten's thoughts about his hunting experiences.

Well I watched to food documentaries this week and I have to say....this food situation is scary.

I think it's interesting to see his perspective on hunting given he had to go out and do this for I believe the first time. I've never hunted a wild pig, but I hear it's exciting.

I agree that it adds a whole other layer to your food when you kill what you eat. Seeing your dinner face to face and then ending its life gives you respect for your food, and for the animal. I only hunt to eat, I would never kill anything just to kill it. Same with fishing, if I'm not going to eat it, it goes right back in the lake as quickly as possible.

I think the part he does miss about hunting is the ritual that becomes a part of the hunting process when you do so often. That adds something even more in my opinion. It becomes a social/cultural thing.

I have never hunted but some of my family does and I have eaten things they have killed. It was interesting to read his reactions to the experience, but I couldn't help but feel like it was a bit superficial since he was doing it, from what I could tell, just for the purposes of writing his book...so I wondered how his reporting would sound to an experienced hunter. I can certainly appreciate the development of a social/cultural thing that he doesn't quite have access to. I was relieved that he had the humility to recognize that and made fun of himself a little bit, particularly when quoting the Spanish hunter-writer (whose hyphenated named is escaping me). So I don't mean for my "superficial" remark to be a criticism.

I understand what you mean. I got the distinct impression he really was only hunting for the book, which my brother says makes him a poser. He missed a lot of the details that make hunting so cool. He doesn't have what are sometimes termed "nature eyes", or the ability to observe the natural world closely and see more than a casual observer. A lot of people criticize hunting without ever trying it, so I give him credit for going out there and making an effort.

Kirsten wrote: "I understand what you mean. I got the distinct impression he really was only hunting for the book, which my brother says makes him a poser. He missed a lot of the details that make hunting so coo..."

that's how i ended up looking at it. especially since as i read that chapter i felt annoyed because very few people could/would get their food this way on a regular basis, so what point is he really getting at? but then he got to his point, which is to maybe have a type of "thanksgiving" more regularly in the future. i can get behind that.

jennbunny wrote: "Well I watched to food documentaries this week and I have to say....this food situation is scary."

yes!

Omnivore's Dilemma is five years old already, right? his writing about Whole Foods may be outdated...something i'm looking into, because i don't think "industrial grocery stores" *have* to mean industrial organic farming (but he made me look more carefully at some things!). same for fast food/chain restaurants. i just came across this interesting thing about Chipotle, for example.

I guess a part of me just does not understand the process of it all....why make food more complex and less healthy for people in general? Why not keep it as simple as possible?

jennbunny wrote: "I guess a part of me just does not understand the process of it all....why make food more complex and less healthy for people in general? Why not keep it as simple as possible?"

because corporate interests want to make a big profit! and somehow this is the way to do it. i call this "wackonomics."

I suppose, but somehow I do not see profit in all that work. I see it as more work and less product.

Breakfast cereal makes them so much money. Taking oats and selling Cheerios for $4.00 a box is just insane.

Oh I cannot believe the price of cereal!

I think the profitability comes from that $4.00 price on the cereal. And remember the corn subsidy, that's what drives the low costs to the manufacturer to produce all the junk food and fast foods.

Also, mass production methods keep costs down as well. I think. And if the foods used are low quality - which I'm sure they must be.

I really liked the book myself. I especially appreciated his story about calf to slaughter. I read a column (Rolling Stone a few years ago) he wrote about this topic prior to the book. I think there was a little more detail. This is the chapter that put me off ground meat and grain fed beef.

I unfortunately had to put this book aside until I am done with Atlas Shrugged. Both books need my full attention and I have to give it to them.

Yeah, I think he mentions that in the book. Breakfast cereal is the single most profitable thing for General Mills, Kellogg, etc.

I am not a cereal eater....my husband does eat it but not often.

i used to think cereal and bread is expensive because the grains are expensive. how naive of me... :D

i made my first loaf of bread last night! i am really excited about that. and tonight i'm making bagels, i hope.

Oh wow that is awesome Marieke! I have yet to venture into the realm of bread baking. I was reading up on it though and found out sourdough bread is supposed to be one of the best breads for us to eat.

jennbunny wrote: "Oh wow that is awesome Marieke! I have yet to venture into the realm of bread baking. I was reading up on it though and found out sourdough bread is supposed to be one of the best breads for us t..."

For Christmas I got Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking and I'm just now getting the courage to try it! It takes more than five minutes, though, lol. And a bit of pre-planning. But this book really does make it simple for neophytes like me who have always had difficulty baking (oh, you mean I really have to follow the directions?!)

LOL....I have that book too! I have not used it yet as I was reading all of the "equipment" you "should" have. As I have no bread baking stuff, I am just looking at the pictures right now.

Ha! I got a pizza peel this weekend. I don't have a proper dough container, I just used the largest Tupperware bowl I have and cut the recipe in half, just in case the dough got way too big.

Yeah I was looking around for some food safe containers for when I get ready to start. I need a baking stone too.

jennbunny wrote: "Yeah I was looking around for some food safe containers for when I get ready to start. I need a baking stone too."

I couldn't find either of my stones (I guess I haven't unpacked them) but I have a cookie sheet that is essentially the same idea, so I used that.

Ah so I am guessing that worked out well? I have never owned a baking stone....so I need to get one. I just bought a juicer and have been learning the basics of that as well. Quite an interesting machine.

jennbunny wrote: "Ah so I am guessing that worked out well? I have never owned a baking stone....so I need to get one. I just bought a juicer and have been learning the basics of that as well. Quite an interestin..."

It was not a failure, but I think I can do better. :D

I have used a pizza stone to make foccaccia, which was tasty. I have to say the pizza peel makes a big difference in terms of ease of baking!

I would love a juicer for OJ...

We just started with a cheapish juicer. I've made a few things but still have a lot to learn.

I will have to dig my bread book out soon!