In no book has the phrase “You are what you eat” meant as much as in Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. This book needs no further accolades after receiving numerous awards in 2007, including the prestigious James Beard Award and a nod as one of The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year. With all this formal recognition behind it, the book can accomplish what it set out to do: educate the masses about how the elements of a meal get to our plates. Combining science, philosophy, anthropology, and journalistic investigation, Pollan sets out to answer the question “What should we have for dinner?” Since humans are omnivores, it becomes far more complicated than need be; thus, the dilemma. He writes, “When you can eat just about anything nature has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety.” Later, he concludes, “We’ve discovered that an abundance of food does not render the omnivore’s dilemma obsolete. To the contrary, abundance seems only to deepen it, giving us all sorts of new problems and things to worry about” (7). He tries to assuage our dilemma by inspiring a conscientious approach to meals by remembering that food comes from somewhere other than the supermarket or refrigerator. Read more