This is an amazing, life-altering book. I truly wish everyone could read this book.

Pollan examines four different meals: a fast food meal, a meal of industrial organic food, a meal of food from a small organic farm, and a meal which Pollan creates from food he has raised or foraged himself. For each meal, Pollan traces the food from farm/origin to the meal itself, and along the way delves into the social, ecological, and ethical issues involved in food production.

One striking point that Pollan makes is about the true cost of food. People balk at paying more for food, seeking out the cheapest possible food instead of examining the food’s quality. But as Pollan points out, that $5 fast food meal is not cheaper. It’s just that the high costs are spread around, paid not at the drive-through window, but paid in terms of our damaged health, as well as the damage to nature, farmers, and animals. Americans spend only about a tenth of their disposable income on food, down from a fifth in the 1950s. Pollan says Americans spend a smaller percentage of disposable income on food than any other industrialized nation, suggesting that we could spend more on food if we made it a priority. And since food is such a major part of our health and that of our children, not to mention the pleasure good food gives us, why wouldn’t it be a priority?