The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

 

It boggles the mind just how little we know about our food these days. What are we eating? Where does it come from? How was it made/processed? Most of us don’t even have a clue.

 

Some of us don’t know because we don’t want to know, but I think we’ve got to face the truth and start taking responsibility for our health again. No one can keep you healthy except yourself, and to do that, first you must know the facts.

 

Where are most of our foods coming from? According to Michael Pollan, corn. Almost every single thing we’re eating started from corn. The corn-fed beef, the sodas sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup, every other processed food like our frozen yogurts, ketchup, hot dogs, soups… they all contain corn.

 

And not high-quality corn either, some of these are genetically engineered corn, or some other hybrid of it, and it’s costing us a lot. Our soil’s nutrients is being depleted by the excessive farming, our rivers are being polluted by tons of chemical fertilizers being washed away, our fish are getting contaminated, our beeves, chicken, and pork are held in deplorable conditions, getting sick and being fed with antibiotics. And we’re eating them. We’re eating contaminated fish and meat pumped with antibiotics.

 

 

What do you expect this is doing to our own health?

 

“You are what you eat.” It’s not just a nice-sounding quote. It’s true, and now we are corn, synthetic chemicals, antibiotics, and pollution.

 

Why isn’t the government doing anything about it? Another shocking revelation: They don’t have the authority to. The people in the food industry have been playing dirty politics so much so that there’s not much the government can do.

 

However, the good news is that the public can do something. If more people educated themselves about their food sources, and demanded good, clean, healthy food, the food industry people would have no choice but to comply or go out of business.

 

I don’t know much about food or nutrition, I readily admit, but I know enough to realize that food cultivated by fossil fuel, chemical fertilizers, harsh treatment and abuse, antibiotics, and synthetic chemicals can’t be good for me.

 

Please, if you are remotely concerned at all about your own health, or the health of your loved ones, read this book, and other books on this topic, and educate yourself. Take responsibility for your health. Do your own research if you’re not sure how much of Pollan’s words you can believe. But don’t bury your head in the sand and refuse to find out more about your own food.

 

Our health has been steadily deteriorating since the food industry people started caring more about money and speed of production rather than good food and health. Sure, medical technology has advanced so much that it can “cure” our illnesses and keep us alive longer. That’s a good thing, but don’t let it blind you to the fact that our personal health is deteriorating, nevertheless.

 

Michael Pollan’s book speaks personally to me because I care about health. I have close family who’ve died of various types of cancer, diabetes, and other health problems. I have a diabetic grandmother who’s now an invalid.

 

We like to blame god, and ask “Why is this happening to me??” when someone we love is diagnosed with some fatal degenerative disease. Well, you’ll get your answer in this book, or at least, it will point you in the right direction. It’s not god’s fault that we get sick. It is the food we eat, plain and simple.

 

For more information, please visit Food, Inc.