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Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan

Author Michael Pollan was born in 1955 and grew up in Long Island, New York. He attended Bennington College, Oxford University, and Columbia University, where he earned a master’s degree in English. For several years, Pollan was the executive editor of Harper’s Magazine and was a contributing editor and columnist for House & Garden magazine. He began contributing articles to The New York Times Magazine in 1987.

Pollan often writes about the strained relationship between people and nature, and he has published several books about gardening, home buying, and amateur construction. Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education (1991), was the recipient of the QPB New Vision Award and was included on the American Horticultural Society’s list of the Best Gardening Books of the Twentieth Century. In 1997, he published A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder, which described his diligent effort to construct a small building with his own hands. The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, published in 2001, was on The New York Times Best Seller list and the recipient of the Borders Original Voices Award for the Best Nonfiction Work of 2001. It deals with the concept of coevolution, specifically people’s relationships with certain plants.

Pollan also wrote many acclaimed essays and articles. He received the John Burroughs Prize in 1997 for the Best Natural History Essay and the 2000 Reuters-IUCN Global Award for Environmental Journalism for his writing on genetically modified crops. His reporting on animal agriculture earned him the 2003 Genesis Award from the Humane Society of the United States. His essays have been included in anthologies such as Best American Essays, Best American Science Writing, and the Norton Book of Nature Writing. His articles have also appeared in numerous journals, including Gourmet and Vogue.


The 2000s in America

The Omnivore’s Dilemma

by Cait Caffrey

Identification: A nonfiction book that studies the evolution of the modern omnivore

Author: Michael Pollan (b. 1955)

Date: Published in 2006

In The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Michael Pollan focuses on the diets of omnivores and the evolution of the modern American meal. In order to help readers understand where the different components of their meals come from, Pollan investigated contemporary diets, including those that consist of industrial foods, organic foods, and foods people forage for themselves. Through these efforts, Pollan hoped to answer one question: What should Americans eat for dinner?

Author Michael Pollan set out to discover the source of modern American cuisine for his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Pollan traveled around the United States to explore the nation’s dining habits. He wanted to understand how Americans decide what they should or should not eat. His book compares the various types of food available, examines the origin of an array of feasts, and acknowledges the dilemma consumers face when confronted with so many conflicting dietary opinions.

To better understand what goes into Americans’ meals, Pollan sampled a series of dishes and then located the original source of each ingredient that made up these meals. He visited food-science laboratories, organic farms, fast-food chains, and Iowa’s cornfields in search of answers. Pollan’s objective was to help his readers truly understand just what they were eating and how it arrived at their dinner tables. He also explains the link between personal food preferences and hereditary evolution. Another point that Pollan particularly emphasizes is how people’s diets affect not only their health but also the health of the planet.

Author Michael Pollan (second from right) with the Underground Food Collective

AUGHTS_OmnivoresDilemma.jpg

(Courtesy Lee Davenport)

Impact

The Omnivore’s Dilemma was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won the James Beard Award for best food writing. The book was also chosen as one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post. Despite these achievements, many critics questioned Pollan’s spin on America’s food-production process. His criticisms of industrial farming, in particular, garnered some backlash from those in the business. These reactions did not hinder the book’s success, however; it was even included in Washington State University’s freshman reading program in 2009. That same year, Pollan published an adaptation of the book for young readers.

Further Reading

1 

“About Michael Pollan.” Michael Pollan. Michael Pollan, 2010. Web. 4 Sept. 2012.

2 

“Author Michael Pollan: ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma.’” NPR. National Public Radio, 14 Apr. 2006. Web. 4 Sept. 2012.

3 

Hurst, Blake. “The Omnivore’s Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuals.” The American. American Enterprise Institute, 30 July 2009. Web. 4 Sept. 2012.

4 

“The Ten Best Books of 2006.” New York Times. New York Times, 2007. Web. 4 Sept. 2012.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Caffrey, Cait. "The Omnivore’s Dilemma." The 2000s in America, edited by Craig Belanger, Salem Press, 2013. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=2000_0278.
APA 7th
Caffrey, C. (2013). The Omnivore’s Dilemma. In C. Belanger (Ed.), The 2000s in America. Salem Press.
CMOS 17th
Caffrey, Cait. "The Omnivore’s Dilemma." Edited by Craig Belanger. The 2000s in America. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2013. Accessed September 18, 2025. online.salempress.com.