Today, buffeted by one food fad after another, America is suffering from what can only be described as a national eating disorder. Will it be fast food tonight, or something organic? Or perhaps something we grew ourselves? The question of what to have for dinner has confronted us since man discovered fire. But as Michael Pollan explains in this revolutionary book, how we answer it now, at the dawn of the twenty-first century may determine our survival as a species.--From publisher description.

"One of the 10 best books of the year"--Cover.

Includes bibliographical references p. [417]-435) and index.

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Our national eating disorder I. Industrial: corn. The plant: corn's conquest The farm The elevator The feedlot: making meat The processing plant : making complex foods The consumer: a republic of fat The meal: fast food II. Pastoral: grass. All flesh is grass Big organic Grass: thirteen ways of looking at a pasture

The animals: practicing complexity Slaughter: in a glass abattoir The market: "Greetings from the non-barcode people" The meal: grass fed III. Personal: the forest. The forager The omnivore's dilemma The ethics of eating animals Hunting: the meat Gathering: the fungi The perfect meal.