A few years ago, I read Animal,Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, which
chronicles a year that the author spent eating only foods that had been grown,
raised, harvested, etc. within a 100 mile radius of her home. The book has been credited with beginning
what is known as the “local-avore” movement in the United States. Kingsolver argues that food grown within that
100-mile radius is healthier for us and for the planet.
Around the same time, the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan hit the New York Times bestseller list, and
since food fascinates me, I meant to read it but never did. I recently picked it up. One of the great things about this book is
that it was popular enough that the author adapted it for a younger, middle
school, audience. So, young readers have
a choice: read the original or read the easier adaptation. I’ll admit I was pressed for time when I
requested the download from the library, and so I read the shorter one. I can’t completely compare because I did not
read the original, but the adaptation was quite interesting.
Pollan traces four meals from field to plate, as best he
can…The first meal is a fairly traditional American meal, then an industrial
organic one, a more “pure” organic meal, and a meal hunted and gathered. Pollan’s point is that we are so disconnected
from our food that we have lost sight of what we are really eating. Is that healthy for the planet or us?
