2 Popular Books - Tamara Bennett

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: the Penguin Group, 2006. Print.

In this book Michael Pollan discusses the background to the infamous question about what we should have to eat. The natural choices we make about what two eat, what decides those choices, and the many things we are unaware that should be a factor when deciding what to eat. The Omnivore’s Dilemma is split up into three sections, one on industrialized food, alternative and organic food, and hunting and gathering. He follows each food chain and dives in deep to what each entails. This book would be really helpful for my topic on agricultural production because of how much this book goes into detail about the different aspects including problems or concerns that are associated with the whole process of agriculture production.

Murray, Sarah. Moveable Feasts: The Incredible Journeys of The Things We Eat. London: Aurum Press Limited, 2007. Print.

In Moveable Feasts Sarah Murray argues that all the things we eat are eminently moveable. She explains that this movement of food over long distances has been part of human life for centuries, which is a result of the inevitable consequence for the quest of substance. What we eat has traveled inside everything from wooden barrels to atmosphere-controlled shipping containers. Our food travels thousands of miles, sometimes even to make what seem to be unnecessary adventures. Murray gives an example of how fish from the U.S. travel to China frozen, are defrosted for filleting, then refrozen and shipped back to the U.S. because the cost to transport is so cheap and efficient that it costs less than the cost of labor to do it here in the U.S. Murray goes into detail further within the moveable food chain and talks about the complex technologies and systems, the history of the moveable food chain, the ability to send food across international borders benefits the consumer and the producer, and the complex tradeoffs of ensuring a sustainable food supply. This book is helpful to my topic on agriculture production because it shows us the importance of transportation in the overall process of agricultural production.