Omnivore's Dilemma

Reader's Response: I taught this book in my Literacy class in the fall. While reading this book before teaching it, it made me so much more conscious of my food choices. It is obvious that what you eat impacts your health, but The Omnivore's Dilemma made me aware of how my choices in what foods I buy impact the environment, the progression of large corporations, and the perpetuation of societal trends in foods. I felt like a much more informed citizen, and learned that everything is basically made out of corn! I was constantly engaged because as the chapters continued, Michael Pollen delved deeper into layers and layers of what he calls "Voting with your Fork," in which you have options and choices to make as a consumer. It makes you think about how the systems in America continue to perpetuate social issues including that of ill-informed consumerism.

Teacher Response: Since this is a non-fiction text, students could easily find other articles about the food industry and what it means to be a conscious consumer. If  students enjoy this book, they could look into other Michael Pollan books such as In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, in which Pollan discusses the importance of eating in smart portions, and the benefits of eating plants rather than animals and processed foods. If students are more interested in the food industry and how to make changes in the negative impacts of the industry, students could read Sandor Katz's The Revolution will Not be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movement.

Evaluator Response: I think this book certainly exemplifies relevance in young adult readers. Something as prevalent and popular as food reaches to all types of personalities, cultures, and other varieties among individuals and groups. I think the message behind Michael Pollan's book was clear, yet it wasn't overbearing or pressuring readers in any way. Pollan references eating and consumer habits of Americans compared to that of other countries, which allows readers to see windows and mirrors in this book. Because this book was written in narrative form, readers only get the perspective from Michael Pollan's consumer experience. To make this book a bit more culturally responsive, maybe he could have included short narratives from other people of different races, genders, ages, cultures, with different eating and consumer habits.

Literacy Coach Response: I chose this book because you go do so much with this in the classroom across different contents! When I used this in my Literacy class, we focused a lot on structure and author's purpose. For instance, we would look at how a certain part of the text helps to convey Pollan's message or main idea. We also looked at crafts that Pollan used in order to further persuade his readers. However, this book has many scientific references in which Pollan breaks down the way that GMO's are replacing natural ingredients to make them cheaper to produce. This makes it easier for manufacturers and food production to make profits. A science teacher could use this to help students explore how animals and the human body react differently to artificial ingredients rather than natural ingredients. A math teacher could have students explore the amount of money the food industry saves in proportion to how much they make off of profits from using artificial ingredients. Or they could explore how much money consumers are losing to major food companies by comparing prices of major brands to store brands to organic brands. A history teacher could help students explore the "Food Fads" that Pollan discusses, in which consumer buy foods based on what food diets and fads that are trending, and why people in that historical context desired to buy into that idea. They could also explore the economical impact that the food industry has had over time, and how that integrates with other historical factors within those time periods.