Michael Pollan: The Omnivore's Dilemma

The UC Davis Mondavi Center presents bestselling author and UC Berkeley journalism professor Michael Pollan. He explores the ecology of eating to unveil why we consume what we consume in the twenty-first century. Michael Pollan is the author, most recently, of The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Series: Mondavi Center Presents [2/2007] [Humanities] [Show ID: 12176]

[@mistiinseattle]

I am so grateful for all these videos. Mr. Pollan, you have really helped me to learn a lot more about nutrition and the situation in our food supply, although I was already fairly well educated. And a LOT of people WILL stop eating that garbage when we know the facts; it certainly has changed my way of eating!!!

[@wyattrussell7496]

2021 - Nothing’s changed

[@LunaGer]

His book was wonderful, absolutely enlightening and filled with vital information everyone in this country (and the world) should have. Thank you for hosting this video!

[@nunusameera1523]

Thanks a lot. I read this book today. It's an excellent opportunity for me to experience the reality in what we consume today as FOOD. It's a great work.

[@theoriginalmakaaka101]

I moved to the country, grow my own food, never been healthier. Got so tired of 80%+ of all the stuff in my local super markets being full of preservatives, unstated contamination from the production process (ammonia, aluminum, Phthalates) flavor enhancers, sugar and Genetically modified food. And holy cow! Tomatoes! I have never tasted such an awesome tomato until I grew some Cherokee purples. For $5 I can grow $200+ of vegetables. My Blood sugar levels are better than ever (got diabetes type1 at age 22 after having McDonalds - the symptoms started the day after and was full Diabetes type 1 by 2 weeks. First Diabetic in my family). My Attention Deficit Disorder and Asperger's are not as debilitating as I am more able to feel motivated and am able to focus.

[@community1854]

Love everything about Michael Pollan!

[@Laurie6060]

I was unconscious to the unsustainabilty to my eating habits. It was a series of events, two significants ones, one of which was realizing my eating choices were making me ill and going on a fruit and vegetable cleanse and watching Fast Food Nation. It didn't happen overnight but it did happen where I no longer eat at fast food restaurants, I just don't trust them, and I choose to eat a predominatly plant based diet. I now make daily choices in the direction of a sustainable food supply.

[@shantinaturechild3239]

I'm happy for you! Eating mostly raw ripe fresh organic alkaline produce has saved me as well. Excluding certain inflammatory foods like all grains and nightshade plants and cooked starches as well for now besides dairy and other animal products. But everyone is different!

[@chefmarcgirard]

I love his work.

[@AzureSkyzz]

The man is brilliant.

[@Raiken3712]

Meat when naturally raised is very healthy. Cooked foods may not be as good as raw but I think our bodies deal with them just fine if our guts have the proper gut flora. If you eat things that populate the gut with beneficial bacteria such as raw milk from grass-fed cows or raw-milk yogurt or raw-milk kefir etc.. your stomach will be fine. Its highly possible that its ideal to eat all things raw, but think we can be perfectly healthy eating some cooked food.

[@redddbaron]

There is plenty enough land. Without a single solitary acre of "farmland" the United States could feed itself just by growing food in peoples lawns and golf courses. It is priorities. Right now the priority is to take the easy wasteful path. If true hunger were to come that would change in a hurry.

[@miguelmxdecarvalho]

Just to say that I am aware of the very good contribution of Pollan thoughts to food.

[@rich0292]

That kind of biodynamic farming which he describes was in constant use in America between the end of the Civil War to WWI. It started with the closing of the frontier so that farmers 'had' to use sustainable farming such as that used in euroupe at the time (they could not easily get new land once they exhausted the soil). It ended with the advent of focil fuel dependant fertilisers and pesticides around the turn of the century.

[@buzzflies]

Radio national australia have a program called first person, in which michael read extracts /condensed version of his book, its a fantastic book , it explores so many ethical /moral/econimical and many other general philosophies on FOOD,farming,production,transport he writes with humour rather than just facts and figures,making it an easy read/listen.Basically I just found it to be really interesting...and really well read.

[@zenarrrow]

I am not being a smart ass, honestly. But after reading this book and in the midst of it, I actually craved and sought out corn products. I searched out corn nuts and corn tortillas. This is no lie, I felt bad but I ate them unstoppable.

[@kawhite310]

Part of the problem is the cost of housing. When two thirds or more of ones income goes to rent, it's difficult to prioritize healthy (expensive) food stuff. This is a dilemma.

[@billsadler3]

Not really. Most supermarkets have basic ingredients like rice, beans, pasta, flour, baking stuff and lots of alternatives to heavily packaged and over processed garbage. Avoid bright colors.

[@mpagner]

goldsby5 - You are correct that some meat contains high levels of B-12. However you realize animals get the B-12 from the various bacteria that grow on grasses and grains? In other words, the B-12 in meat comes from plants, so why not cut out the middle-man (or is it "middle animal"?)? I eat a mostly vegan diet and take a vegan B-12 supplement, just to be safe. Most food has healthy bacteria washed from it before it hits store shelves.

[@SuperOlds88]

I mean if every farmer did what the grass farmer does, we would be helping nature.

[@Randomiz500]

-And then realize that the world is too little for that. To solve that just go SOS plant based and eat locally. Cheap, Easy and healthy. Eat corn as corn. Starch rules.

[@errorspending]

really good talk though I think it would help to point out that it is only natural for food to be grown more locally eventually. If trade barriers and government subsidies are removed, the wages of the world will reach equilibrium eventually and it will no longer be more profitable to ship things long distances. It is the governments of the world that are the biggest hindrances to sustainable, local organic food.

[@Drchainsaw77]

@cbdoobie If you're curious as to why all the corn subsidies, it's simply because Iowa holds their primary caucuses first.

[@greenftechn]

Spending more on food may not be an option for folks close to the poverty level. Growing their own in community with others may be a better option.

[@barbaramodic1470]

I love that guy! :)

[@AlcyonSEAgreen]

LOL, Ben Murray's reference to the book "The China Study" was NOT to imply that the Chinese people eat less meat or anything. It refers to a massive data collection project in the 1970s where some 625,000 workers collected data on cancer and some other diseases in thousands of counties across China, along with dietary information on the patients. This gave a particular 'snapshot" across a large country and some excellent opportunity for statistical analysis. It's only one chapter in that book.

[@RiDankulous]

Most communities have been eviscerated by industry and technology. The changes in the last 150 years have been bigger than changes for thousands, hundreds of thousands of years, for the way humans live and interact.

[@mpagner]

Another perspective is to reduce the amount of stuff people consume. Also, people need to consider what "away" is when they "throw it away". Away is a landfill. Away is trash on the side of the road, Away is the garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean. Reducing the world's population is important, but so long as people think it OK to live in a throw-away society all of the crap we consume will haunt us.

[@stinguself]

every little bit of knowledge does help change.

[@gjford1951]

@MindofaJedi Mr. Pollan lays out the dilemma in his book: "When you can eat just about anything nature has to offer (i.e., you are an omnivore), deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety, especially when some of the potential foods on offer are liable to sicken or kill you. This is the omnivore's dilemma.." - Michael Pollan

[@johnkuthe1]

I always cook for myself, or I also eat food I am given. :-) But I never eat garbage.

[@DarthVaygr]

More people should see this. Why do rap vids have more views than this? Nothing against rap, I like it, but this is probably infinitely more important.

[@SuperOlds88]

The grass farmer, 100 acres of grass and 400 acres of woodlot. Woodlot, a place for wild animals to live. Unlike most modern farms that utilize every square inch leaving no place for wild animals. The government has the CRP program in the midwest but the cost of corn has made the crop so valuable that there has been a huge reduction of CRP. If every farm practiced this we would be helping nature instead of ruining it.

[@theonetruemessage]

@Merryrobin Excellent practice... This is the halal method of slaughter. Unfortunately people do not understand the halal method of slaughter and many slaughterers do not follow the correct method of halal slaughter. In a nutshell it is exactly how you described the process. Livestock need to be cared for and kept healthy. When time to slaughter, should be done quickly & efficiently and mentioning the name of God at the time of the slaughter.

[@turtleanton6539]

Very real 😊😊😊😊

[@Jefferdaughter]

Portable electric fencing is great; we use it to rotate our livestock on pasture. BUT the concept and the practice are NOT new. Remember 'Little Boy Blue'? Or Peter the goatherd in 'Heidi'? Two examples of low-tech ways to move livestock to fresh grazing practiced for thousands of years. Poultry was also herded, or housed in portable coops, some with wheels. Not all farmed this way, but the best pastoralists never forgot the wisdom of working with (not against) the natural world.

[@Merryrobin]

@bumfire007 @bumfire007 I agree. Families have depend on their farms and livestock for generations. I think my grandparents were normal in the way they cared for the animals, kept them clean and well fed until it was time to slaughter them. It was done quick, efficiently and with gratitude to God. Some of the practices nowadays are absolutely disgusting.

[@rich0292]

@bonuspants Ok, but bear in mind that there is a differance between organic agriculture and what he is advocationg which is biodynamic agriculture. Organic agariculture may seed the earth with less chemicals but it is not necesarily as sustainable as the co-dependant ecosystem farm. Organic agriculture still requires the use of transported fertiliser and feed despite being organic. Whereas what he is suggesting is a vitualy contained ecosystem as found in nature.

[@frankme9862]

I remember reading an encyclopedia in the 80s that mentioned California could feed 75% of the world's population. When our government pays farmers to not grow food so others can price gouge. It's just what they do to keep prices inflated and the rats the in the cage. If you're near the southern border it's obvious to see the price discrepancies when one gets the same product for more because of "subsidies". It's not sustainable because the people have no self control - obese. Tis psychological control and economic control by the social engineers.

[@AzureSkyzz]

Exactly.

[@BeldnerFilms]

For those who need liberation from a nagging conscience now have their messiah in Pollan. He became canonized, “ethical ranchers” and “compassionate carnivores” became idolized, and not eating animals at all - a principled and logical response to the violence inherent in turning animated beings into butchered bodies - he helps us perceive as a naïve ideal.

[@wyattrussell7496]

You think you’re good for eating a helpless plant? heh

[@billsadler3]

@@wyattrussell7496 The broccoli didn't struggle much, but the blackberry bush nearly ripped my arm off! 😁

[@wyattrussell7496]

@@billsadler3 plants are introverts and they do feel everything without expressing anything familiar to our own emotions

[@LManhattan]

substitulos al español please!!!!!!!!

[@MindofaJedi]

The dilema is this " Because human beings get atherosclerosis and atherosclerosis a disease of only herbivores , then humans must be herbivores " William C Roberts M.D. editor in cheif of the American Journal of Cardiology and author of 1,300 scientific publications .

[@aleterra]

@h2onitro I respect your opinion. I just was expecting to hear what you think.

[@TheNilo78]

can someone tell me where the grass farming part is?

[@lf7065]

This video is 10 years old. Things change in a decade...

[@TheFreesubs12]

Can someone give me a summary of this book?

[@who-tube]

Sure. Here it is - 1. Eat local foods from farmers. 2. Humans are omnivores. 3. 'Organic' does not necessarily always means good for human health, animal welfare, or the environment/sustainable. This is a superb book, you would be wise to read it yourself; not only is it highly engaging and informative, but there is plenty of comedy sprinkled throughout.

[@medit84truth]

So far, 5 people have mistakenly given this video a thumbs down.

[@OnlyForAngels]

Whole foods is obscenely expensive.

[@TobeornottooB]

@Pika Chu By sharing what they learn, practice and research?

[@gregoryheym8062]

If you had to pick a food chain, which one would you pick?

[@billsadler3]

Ryobi or Makita.

[@ahmetcangokceer]

The host looks so fcking cool

[@ellocodiablo]

3:44

[@kathleenmckeon9926]

One thing he talks about, eat local not at fast food, "most people cannot afford to" but try. In the cheap food, it has no nutrition and has chemicals, makes you sick, I disagree with the premise when said people cannot afford to eat real nutrition & chemical free food because, no body gets out cheap, you either pay now your way and actually feed yourself or you pay later in illness, prescription drugs and medical bills. It is everyone's choice, right now Americans are choosing to pay later in illness and drugs. But we all pay in the end, now or later.

[@kathleenmckeon9926]

It's cheaper on a budget than processed food, depending on how you do it.

[@MNveg]

There's debate over whether or not this was the result of agriculture. Remember that alongside agriculture came animal domestication, and the rise of zoonotic diseases. Hunter gatherers consuming no grains also started to shrink around this period, which scientists attribute to a shift in climate.

[@rich0292]

@MindofaJedi True, however you are assuming that we eat our foods unprocessed straight from the ground or animal. You are forgetting that we have evolved with fire and tools. Who needs strong sharp jaws if you have a spear or club, or can cook with fire? Yes we have a side to side jaw motion, but that is because it is conducive to both meat and plant eating, it is necesary for plant eating, but it is also hardly a disadvantage for meat digestion to grind it in to a paste before swallowing.

[@riccer24]

@kaljerico1Dr. Oppenlander is talking about "Sustainable" on a global scale -we use land, water, and pollute air at an irreversible level providing resources for the 70 billions animals raised, slaughtered, and eaten each year. My grandparents also raised animals on their own land 100 years ago, before the earth had 6.8 billion people to feed, and now with less than 2% of the population involved with farming but are using most of our planet’s resources.

[@krakeder69]

alguien podria hacer el grsn favor de subtitularlo en español? no kerría perder detalle. Muy importante, Gary Yourofsky avisa ke este video está creado para mal influenciar a la gente metiendole ideas equivocadas. Gary aconseja que no lo veamos, o en todo caso, no creerselo.

[@mr.wrongthink.1325]

One thing i don't understand is how is it going to be better if there is 30 million small farms serving 300 million people, versus 30 thousands big farms serving same 300 million people? Impact on environment may be same, or worse, and prices will be higher, and more people would need to go back to low-productivity, low-paying agricultural jobs. How is that better?

[@billsadler3]

Impact from small local farming using sustainable organics is minimal to factory chemical agro-conglomeration. Better, tastier and funner, in a democratic sort of way. Right action. Right livelihood.

[@remodesu]

Why doesn’t he talk about the importance of regular exercise? It’s not just food that we need we need food for the soul as well

[@Drchainsaw77]

@bumfire007 What the hell does that mean?

[@GayArmo]

Fortified Vegan food has B12

[@impalapez]

Nature is infinitely abundant...however, for capitalism to work, you need perceived scarcity...hence our current problems...The minutes on the farmer around 34 minutes are awesome!!

[@comfortouch]

You've got it backwards, This guy is the inspiration for Whole Foods...

[@sparrows3232]

comfortouch LMAO-

[@NicholasOsella]

43:33 unsentimental ground

[@BevAlbi]

@jking21701 Well said!

[@mpagner]

goldsby5 - A vegan diet does not require that you take a B12 supplement. I just take one by choice. In fact, I know plenty of people who eat all sorts of diets who take vitamin supplements by choice. Nutritional yeast is another great source of B12 for the vegan diet, as are fortified foods (Silk Soymilk provides 50% daily allowance per cup). So you stand corrected. Vegan diet does not require vitamin supplements. Not sure why you are trying to prove a vegan diet to be unhealthy.

[@WritingMarketing]

Pollan for President :-)

[@HunterMann]

@MopDMTBARTL I thought that way too when I was a bong brother. Smoke nothing! There are many other ways to get your THC if that's what you need.

[@Gunnanmon]

The Omnivore's Dilemma is NOT about vegetarianism.

[@astromastro6026]

This video inspired me to buy a box of Danish cookies.

[@bitchmobpolitics]

enwikipediawiki Joel Salatin

[@summerfunteam]

@BDubXOne what is false?

[@Andreastij]

Tell me, is this the first talk you ever hear?

[@yolotlflores8800]

Why drink water in a plastic bottle?

[@manvsbook]

[@rabiesman888]

he reminds me of like the sam harris of food

[@riccer24]

@kaljerico1Back in 1910, we had not used up 50% of our fresh water supply, 40% of our entire land mass was not taken up by livestock. These livestock did not yet create 30% of all global warming, and 1.1 billion people on earth were not starving to death yet due to lack of a global food supply crises because 70% of all the food raised in the world today is going to feed livestock...not humans.

[@StrainsFYI]

Chinese people eat lots of meat, just not in comparison to Americans, you apparently haven't done research into what's healthy but rather found sites that indulge you in your beliefs, It is known that some essential fatty acids cannot be obtained threw plants, and some vitamins cannot be found in animals, so you need both, granted you don't need very much meat (Chinese vs Americans) but you still need it. Your not vegetarian, or any "arian" if you take supplements to avoid deficiencies.

[@randy95023]

The world would be so much simpler if we weren't encumbered with conscience...

[@hymnofashes]

@kaljerico1 Ants have domesticated aphids. Is that unsustainable? Are dogs unsustainable? Ridiculous.

[@temu88]

Name one nutrient that plants don't have. BTW, most meat eaters take multi vit.,calcium, fiber.. you get all that from plants.

[@summerfunteam]

@MopDMTBARTL i understand that poor diet and inactivity is bad. i live in america lol. but the fact is that a smoked substance IS bad for your lungs

[@Kikkies68]

If people keep making fun of this then why are you here? Why bothering commenting? Vegetables are far better for you than some carcess. If you'll never change then please just leave.

[@bhudson39]

Thought provoking presentation. People buy organic to mostly look after their bodies, less so the land where they are grown. (We in New Zealand are exporting organic milk powder to the US? Ha!) Explaining how to farm on grass? I forget that farming isn't on grass- it's the common practice here. Never heard of using chickens to eat fly larvae in cow dung - now that makes a lot of sense! Sustainable growth may not be an oxymoron in every case after all. (So long as its short lived)

[@leelester4772]

Well said. Except that it is not republican. It is conservative. A true conservative, like myself, drives a honda fit and grows his or her own food. Republican and Democrat are simply labels that really dont mean anything anymore as the "fiscal cliff" debates illustrated. Liberals and conservatives, in the end, want the same things, they just want them for different reasons and that is where we see the clash. :) Then we label that clash "politics" and let our avatars (politicans) fight.

[@GrantMcWilliams]

I and about 200 million other people (living in Europe) are glad we didn't take that stance during WWII. It's just the way the world is happens to be the laziest cop out known. It is that way if you are too lazy to change it.

[@ToolsnFire]

animal products and plant products are make me optimally healthy. It's variable per person. Omnivore FTW!, variable per person.

[@enderlaw9008]

Corn = everything

[@riccer24]

@kaljerico1The reason our ancestors ate meat 50,000 years ago is because they did not know any better, the ones that did, realized they had to domesticate crops and grow and eat more plants in order to survive. I was under the impression that we know a bit more about things now then they did back when hunting wooly mammoths with spears was the only function of the day.

[@joygingchannel7320]

🎄🎄🎄🎄✅✅✅❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@EarlFaulk]

Sounds like a lot of Raw Fooders here on the board.

[@HunterMann]

@MopDMTBARTL Yes, eating baked goods to get baked... My theory is that most of those silly hookah lounges will be converted to hashish/pot vaporizing, when the herb is legal.

[@FathomlessJoy]

Nope. I thrive off of 100% plants. Peace to you!

[@ghostpiratelechuck2259]

And also to you, friend.

[@thayne559]

Grow your own!

[@aleterra]

@h2onitro Please elaborate, because your statement is obviously wrong. (I have education and voted this video up, so many other colleagues)

[@MindofaJedi]

@30Chucknorris Hahaha , you really bring up the food pyramid ? Do you know where the four food groups came from ? A group of advertising reps . There was not a single doctor or nutritionist involved . The USDA said this is how much meat,veggies, dairy , grain we produce in the USA help us sell the right proportions and they came up with the food groups . There are books about this . Dairy should never be consummed every study has shown cow milk to be damaging to human health .

[@MindofaJedi]

@30Chucknorris Anyone who referms to a CHART as a bilogical fact is beneath logical debate . Do you understand what a bilogical fact would be ? A bilogical fact would be humans need water to survive . Every decent nutritionist laughs at the food pyramid , that isn't a bilogical fact , but it is true .

[@khakulugbek]

If u a Herbivore ur a Vegetarian... Herbivores dont eat meat , do u?

[@nituroy8702]

did any one notice how many times he said umm? lol

[@treephant]

Michael... you're drinking bottled water!

[@summerfunteam]

@MopDMTBARTL sugar is not a toxin and a smoked drug is not a good thing for a society

[@StrainsFYI]

An omnivore you are, no matter how much you wish it werent so, you may take a stand against the cruelty, animals must endure to satisfy us and turn away from it, and may you have luck on that endeavour, but thinking that humans are not built for food is some 250k year old history, your appendix is whats left of you ancestral vegetarian ape diet, like the little stump remnant of a tale on your rear :)

[@robertthompson5501]

Whole Food now owned by a bookseller Amazon. Figures

[@viruchamp]

Long back

[@GrantMcWilliams]

Of course they don't say it raises up third world countries because it does exactly the opposite. I'd be all for it if we paid a fair price for their goods but we don't. And yes, South American countries qualify as third world, I've traveled across half the continent and most people there make next to nothing. I make as much in a week as they make in a year. Is this not third world? Just because most everything we use is made somewhere else doesn't mean it's a good thing.