Misunderstanding Michael Pollan, Part One

I just cracked open The Omnivore’s Dilemma after letting it decoratively grace my nightstand for about a year.  I thought I’d be content just to coast along on the condensed version in the Times (which was still kinda long, truth be told), but now everyone’s reading the even-longer version.  Quoting it.  Documenting weddings and births inside the cover as if it were the family Bible.  Even people who don’t much care about food or even eat food.  It just makes me look like a giant slacker.

Anyway, I know a couple of you just started it, too, so maybe we can have a little Internet book club.  This would be my first book club experience so I hope it goes well.  For those of you who finished it a long time ago and are on to the next one, please don’t spoil the ending. 

I’m on page 23 at the moment (we won’t go into how long it took me to get there).  So far, Pollan has a very interesting take on the evolutionary biology of plants and animals on the farm.  He suggests that it was not we who domesticated these species, but rather they who domesticated us.  Let’s read together:

“By evolving certain traits we happen to regard as desirable, these species got themselves noticed by the one mammal in a position not only to spread their genes around the world, but to remake vast swaths of that world in the image of the plants’ preferred habitat.”

We’ve been conned!  Plants and animals have tricked us into furthering their own genetic codes.  Tricked us with deliciousness.  They even got us to foot the bill for a decorator.  All this time, I was under the impression that this was purely one-sided exploitation.  Now that I realize there’s something in it for both of us, things aren’t sitting quite so well.

Sometimes when I look at sheep, I think to myself that maybe they’re not the smartest creatures alive.  Smarter than cows, definitely, but not as smart as pigs.  Now I know.  They’re just biding their time, chewing their cud like a clique of gum-smacking tweens waiting for their eighteenth birthdays so they can finally tell their parents what they really think of them without getting sent to juvie.  What other hidden, sinister agendas they might have is anyone’s guess. 

Anyway, I think that we might be the Big Mammal on Campus that Pollan is talking about.  So, his point must be this.  If we humans want to win, we need to start noticing the hell out of each other right away so we can spray-paint our genes all over every square-inch of this planet before it’s too late.  Not to mention replacing all of these useless trees with our preferred habitat: prefab.  Bottom line: Have lots of sex RIGHT NOW (preferably with a contractor) and, for god’s sakes, don’t use a condom. 

Is that right, Michael Pollan?  Did I get the basic gist?

Comments

[Sally]

"So Long And Thanks For All The Fish!"

[Kim]

Thank God someone else is just as far behind with Pollan as I am. Seriously, I just put the book INSIDE my bedside table yesterday because it was getting dusty. I told myself I'd get back to it this weekend. I was pissed when I found out he came out with ANOTHER book before I finished this one.

Overachiever.

[Jess]

You are not alone, sister. It's taken me 8 months to get two-thirds of the way through it (I'm up to grass). Does it mean anything that, along the way, I also read "Eat Pray Love" and "The Red Tent"? And 3 other books? And did my taxes?

I read all of his blog posts. Does that count? C'mon, tell me it counts!

[Susanna]

Yeah, I'm with the rest of you. And sitting on P. 29. I misunderstood him to mean that corn is taking over the planet, in the manner of infiltrating aliens. I have to keep up with Perez Hilton, so I don't have as much serious time to devote as I'd like.

[Alecto]

I am on page 42. The corn gets even more interestinger. Hows that for a sentence? I may need a bit of trauma therapy though, in order to ever have sex again.

[Heather]

I'm on the hunting (last?) chapter, but haven't picked it up in a coupla months. I want to read his new one. If you read Botany of Desire you can kinda skip the first bit, I think.

[cookiecrumb]

I haven't read my copy for over 10 years. Yo, like I didn't read it. But I have it on a dust-free bookshelf.

[melissa]

oh yes, tammy, you totally got the gist. O_o

:)

I haven't read this, though adam at amateur gourmet did a great (and rather fired up) review of it when he, also, FINALLY, got through it. I guess everyone has a hard time muddling through. I'd give up on it fast, I'm sure.

anyway, if you're interested:

http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2008/02/belated_book_re.html

[Tammy]

Melissa: Thanks for the link. Good review and the comments were interesting, too.

CC: After your comment I was thinking, have 10 years gone by already? I wouldn't be a bit surprised.

Heather: Wanna pick it up again?

Alecto: Why? What happens between p. 23 and 42? Wait, don't tell me.

Susanna: Priorities, priorities.

Jess: All of that counts. I have done none of those things.

Kim: Seriously, that's a lot of writing to be doing. A lot of good writing. He should really pace himself better.

Sally: No. You are not adding another book to my pile.

[melissa]

tammy, I just posted my version of this:

http://www.foodonthefood.com/food_on_the_food/2008/02/better-than-hal.html

THANK YOU!!!

[jo]

I too have been dutifully dusting the cover of it each week as it has sat unread on my nightstand. I really feel, after all this time, like I have already read it, or at least absorbed 90% of it from the atmosphere. I think I'm toddling along at page 45.
it is beginning to feel like the book I shall never finish.

[Sandicita]

What is it about this book? I too started it months ago and have made it to page 130 but it has taken all my willpower. While very interesting, it's kinda slow, technical, and depressing. I'm excited to read it book-club style though! Glad to head others are trudging through it too.

[Barry Foy]

The reverse-selection idea comes as welcome news to me, having spent the last 20 years making myself as appetizing as possible to polar bears. Now at least I know I'm not alone.

[Tammy]

Barry: Ah, but are you corn-fed or grass-fed? Enquiring polar bears want to know.

Sandicita: Maybe we can all spur each other on like we're running the Boston Marathon together. I hear Pollan doesn't mind the non-corn carbohydrates.

Jo: I know what you mean. But I'm a sucker for all the little interesting details that I'm sure I'll forget almost instantly.

Melissa: Awesome. I'm on my way to check it out now.

[PartyPooper]

Hmmm...evolving traits humans find desirable? Not having read (nor really planning to read) this book, I can't condemn for certain, but this is precisely the simplistic and often tautological view of evolution that gets the theory in such trouble. It's kind of like saying "desired traits are desired." Well, no kidding. Barry's comment is actually quite apt in this case; has the chain that ultimately produced Barry been selected with an eye to polar bear nourishment? Also, for what it's worth, breeding and husbandry are far from inevitable programs. Many species resist breeding, but many do not. It's impossible to predict with even modern genetic analysis. Despite the tastiness of something, it's possible that one simply cannot cultivate it.
ANYWAY, yes, we grow a lot of corn. I'm going to crawl back under my rock now. I wonder if Husband knows of your new found fervor.

[Annemarie]

You obviously haven't gotten to the part where he tells us to eat our fill of beef and every animal we can get our hands on.

I made it beyond page 100 and I was absurdly proud. That was almost a year ago. I still feel absurdly proud.

[Whatacard]

Oh dear, this book is right at the top of my "to read" pile. Of course, it occurred to me that both of my book groups meet next week and I haven't read either book, so guess what got pushed to the bottom of the pile again?

I guess that's a good thing, right?

[cookiecrumb]

Cranky calls our procrastination The Omnivore's Dilemma Dilemma.

[Tammy]

CC: Cranky's awesome.

Whatacard: It's not bad so far. However, I'm still only on page 23. I'll keep you posted and then you can decide.

Annemarie: You should be proud. You're in the top tier of my readership, which is very discerning, as you know.

PartyPooper: Consider me outraged, too. As for my newfound fervor, I assume you're referring to the unprotected sex I was mentioning. Let me just state very clearly: there will be no more unprotected sex in my world, no matter what Michael Pollan says.

[PartyPooper]

Tammy,
There's a bit of evolutionary theory that states that the goal of successful selection is, in fact, fit and fecund grandchildren. Briefly, your fling with the contractor would be pointless if your kids were sterile (like mules) or otherwise unable to attract a mate.
No more unprotected sex for you, but it's never too early to begin grooming your kids. Regular bathing helps, and guitar lessons, and perhaps they may be trained to enjoy walking on beaches and dancing in the rain.
Best Book Club ever.

[Kim]

I have to agree with Jo, I think I started too late, and I feel like I've already read the thing. I fear the same thing happening with In Defense of Food. Haven't I read it by now?

Seriously, I would even read EXTRA PAGES in this book if I could actually sit down and have a drink with you people. When's the next meeting?

I'll bring the last two squash I have from The Giant Basket of Squash.