Possibly due to its being assigned for college reading, and also because I'm not all that interested in the subject, I didn't much care for this one. Pollan makes valid points, and it's an important book, but overall a tedious read. ( )

A bit hard to get through in sections, but overall an important read for anyone that eats food. Pollan traces the complete journey food had to take before reading his plate, from the fast food meal consumed while driving down the highway to the simple fare he procured old-school by hunting and gathering. ( )

Overall, this book is quite informative and at times engaging to read--however, the middle section on corn ran extremely long, and I found myself less than enthusiastic by the time I reached the "scavenging" section on mushrooms, as interesting as it ended up being. In the end I felt like I'd spent way more time slogging through this than it warranted, though I did come away with some new insights. ( )

Another great book on food, food production and eating in modern America. Pollan writes engagingly, and the book definitely provides some food for thought - without being a lecture. ( )

A fascinating expose of the various ways we manage to feed all the billions of people who exist in the world today. Pollan is on board with the typical "It's an outrage!" style of writing; there's plenty of that in here - but that's not at all what the book is about. The first section, on corn, does a really nice job of explaining how much of the economy is based around corn, and also a good job of explaining why things are that way, and what we might have to give up in our lifestyles if we wanted things to be different.

The other sections are much the same, one on meat farming and one on gathering wild food. Pollan is indeed given to the occasional interlude that seems to be be pretty far away from the focus of the book, but these interludes tend to enhance rather than detract; think of them as the occasional bay leaf in your chili.

All in all, it seems to be a sober discussion of the pros and cons of our system of manufacturing food. While Pollan does have an agenda, his treatment is careful, detailed, and balanced. A refreshing change from the frothing-at-the-mouth hyperbole we find in some similar books. ( )