"The Omnivore's Dilemma," by Michael Pollan is a recount of Pollan's experiences and what he learned throughout that time period taking place in the book. The informational book starts off saying that we are creating a national eating disorder. In addition, he provides that we are in the "omnivore's dilemma" or in other words it is harder for us to decide what to eat than a Koala. We have adapted drastically so we are changing what we depend on; thus, eliminating chemical defenses of various organisms. In a time like this, many species are now co-dependent. This goes back thousands of years, but Pollan begins at a farm owned by the Naylor family. This farm is the story of American agriculture because it began as a subsistence farm and now feeds over 100 plus Americans. The farm resides in Iowa which is more developed than many cities because only 2% of the land is still a tall- grass prairie. .
Only 2% of the land being a prairie many farmers grow diverse crops to withstand a market crash. One of these crops is corn, this is an important crop for things such as CAFOs; the cheap corn that the CAFOs use enables Americans to eat much more meat. Corn sex is easy to manipulate to create new species, for example American Indians have been doing it for years. There is a negative consequence to the use of corn versus grass; corn costs the animal's and eater's health. Despite this reason corn is used so that animals such as cows go to slaughter weight quicker; with this the animal contains more saturated fats than omega-3 fats which is harmful to humans. With tons of cheap corn going around people started drinking much more, specifically corn whiskey causing an obesity epidemic. We can also blame part of the supersized serving on one man, David Wallerstein who served on the board of directors at McDonald's. This supersizing scheme was perfect for companies, but then type 2 diabetes comes in the picture causing massive obesity.
