The Omnivore#039;s Dilemma：A Natural History of Four Meals.pdf

A TEACHER’S GUIDE to The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by michael pollan P E N G U I N G R O U P ( U S A ) I. INTRODUCTION Pollan begins his book with a seemingly simple posed to eat. But in America, Pollan says, we’ve question — What should we have for dinner? — lost this connection with the past. A nation of that he believes modern Americans have lost the immigrants, we’ve never had a “single, strong ability to answer. Confused and anxious about culinary tradition” that tells us what to eat. (5) what we should be eating, we rely on outside, Worse, this cultural void has been fi lled with a “expert” advice, from food scientists, nutrition- cacophony of competing voices — food compa- ists, and investigative journalists, to decide what nies, politicians, nutritionists — telling us what to put on the table each night. Pollan wants to we should eat, often with their profi t (rather than know how we lost our way. our health) in mind. The result, says Pollan, is that the omnivore’s dilemma has come back with For him, America reached a new level of absurdi- ty in 2002, when the Atkins diet saw a resurgence an “almost atavistic vengeance.” (4) We wander