Omnivore's Dilemma Analysis

Have you ever wondered where your food comes from? The Omnivore’s Dilemma, written by Michael Pollan, digs deeper into this question. He explains the different food chains and argues that some are more wholesome and healthy than others. In this way, he solves “the omnivore’s dilemma”; when people can eat everything, what should they eat? Pollan proves that guidance is necessary in order to improve people’s eating habits by writing about healthful food choices from the past, how our senses are fooling us to make the wrong food choices, and how culture impacts the food on everyone’s plates. To begin, Pollan believes that people should have knowledge of foods from the ancient past. This valuable wisdom has been collected over thousands of years and can be used to improve present day diets. He states, “Modern Americans have lost the solution to the omnivore’s dilemma and today the problem is bigger than it has ever been. But it’s not an unsolvable problem. We need to recover the skills and knowledge people used to have” (104). Michael Pollan explains how learning about the history of food will result in food choices (such as eating locally-grown foods) which are safe and healthy.
However, Pollan says our brains are confusing the food we eat. The brain thinks of bitter foods as toxic and sweet foods as healthy, high energy foods. For example, he explains that “. . . some of the bitterest plants contain valuable nutrients, even useful medicines. We can’t rely on our sense of taste when we choose what we eat” (106). This argument shows that Pollan believes that the brain, while communicating with taste, misleads people into eating food that is not healthy. As taste largely impacts what humans eat, we should be aware of this fact, ignoring our senses and relying instead on