The Omnivores Dilemma - Annotated Bibliography Example

OMNIVORES DILEMMA (An Annotated Bibliography) ID Number: of of School (University) Estimated Word Count: 1,365 Date of Submission: February 05, 2012 OMNIVORES DILEMMA Reference List Morris, S. (2007). The new village green: living light, living local, living large. British Columbia, Canada: New Society Publishers. This book is actually a collection or compendium on various matters relating to the green movement and the environment in general. The book is composed of various articles and essays by writers and scientists regarding the desired future for the environment such as the use of solar panels, industrial food production and the newest buzzword about “free-range” chickens to assuage the concerns of people who are worried about the direction that food security is taking. This wonderful book is intended for people who are into the so-called Green Movement, worried about natural resources and looking for alternative lifestyles. The book contains articles on topics as varied as Peak Oil and the Slow Food Movement, off-grid living, social responsibility, sustainable development and reducing a persons carbon footprint. This book is thought provoking with great insights. People today are rightfully concerned with the degradation of the environment and hence worried about their food sources. This book relates to the Omnivores Dilemma because it discusses varied topics which are related to the environment in general but takes a closer look at how food sources are being produced in an industrial society which had degraded the environment through the use of misleading labels and advertising, such as free-range chickens. Consumers should endeavor to know the origins of their food sources. Vileisis, A. (2008). Kitchen literacy: how we lost knowledge of where food comes from and why we need to get it back. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press. This book is light reading and basically traces the reasons why people today have lost the knowledge of where their food comes from due to the combination of advertising that tries to build up brand loyalty in conjunction with the powerful farm industry lobbies. An intimate book of sorts for people who are concerned about the food they are eating, since we are what we eat, so we better watch out what we are eating. The book is a historical journey of sorts by tracing how food production evolved from beginning two hundred years ago to todays supermarket and grocery shelves, totally disconnected or detached from the details of actual production to merely becoming modern consumers. This lack of knowledge has important implications as people do not seem to care too much about how food was produced and what happened in between the farm and the supermarket. This books relation to Pollans book is on how people are entirely clueless about their food sources and the implications of such ignorance regarding their own health and how knowledge can improve peoples health by giving them more intelligent choices when it comes to consumption of various manufactured products sold in the supermarket shelves. Consumers are more concerned or worried about food prices without really getting into a substantive discussion of the more important matters concerning food production method used in industrial farming together with advertising that tries to force people to eat foods they do not necessarily need, such as manufactured foods like some cereals and bread. Grumett, D. & Muers, R. (2010). Theology on the menu: asceticism, meat and Christian diet. Florence, KY, USA: Taylor & Francis Group. This is quite an engrossing book as it relates food consumption to religion, specifically how the early Christians attitude towards their diets and eating in moderation influenced their lifestyle. The book is actually an easy read and marries the teachings of religion to diets, since eating is more or less largely a cultural thing and relates religion further to its ecological significance. A biblical injunction to eat only when hungry and eat only in moderation and avoid excess is the general theme of this wonderful book. For people who are deeply religious and at the same time worried about weight gain and how to lose those extra pounds, this book is recommended to attain ideal weight. This book is highly recommended for people who have problems with weight and diets. The use of religion in relation to food choices can be a compelling reason for people to finally change their lifestyles, in particular their eating habits. Deeply religious people rarely have problems with food choices, as they have a limited range of menu or eat only certain types of foods. One of the main challenges in Pollans Omnivores Dilemma is the tyranny of choices that people today face when it comes to their food choices through the sheer availability of a very wide range of food available. Religion can be a good companion to food, diet and modern lifestyles as gluttony is also considered one of the cardinal sins, so people have good reason to avoid eating too much meat or much food when they consider spirituality in relation to their ways of living. Sanbonmatsu, J. (2011). Critical theory and animal liberation. Lanham, MD, USA: Rowman & Littlefield. This book is a bit intended for the high-brow as it discusses the matter of food in relation to animal rights as advocated by some activists. This is sort of heavy reading as it talks about the political and social philosophies with regards to mans killing of animals for his consumption. In this regard, the reader is well advised to read this book with a healthy dose of skepticism as it discusses the cruel treatment of various animals raised for food in the Freudian context of domination, repression and mass killing in relation to such far off ideas like fascism and genocide. Perhaps of greater relevance is the Locavore movement discussed within the book; people today would rather prefer to purchase their foods from local people whom they know, and thereby support their own food producers in contrast to buying some industrialized food that is processed and manufactured elsewhere. This book relates to Pollan in that people today have joined the bandwagon of a back-to- the-basics movement where consumers prefer locally-produced food products. When the people embark on this Locavore movement, they had eschewed the industrial production of food in favor of local products where they can have a kindred connection with farmers and producers like they used to in the olden days. This book juxtaposes the debate on the animals rights to that of mans need for food but within bounds of animal rights, because animals cannot speak in their behalf and in their defense. Mass-produced animals raising for food, like chickens and cattle, also exposes humankind to risks of food insecurity. Keith, L. (2009). The vegetarian myth: food, justice and sustainability. Oakland, CA, USA: PM Press. This book offers an interesting perspective on how the myth of vegetarianism has led to more serious environmental degradation because of the need to produce more grains and other plant-based food as espoused by the vegan movement. In this regard, a passion to avoid animal-based food has caused a preoccupation with planting large tracts of land to industrial farming which had led to deforestation, climate change, damage to the topsoil, caused the extinction of several living creatures by depriving them of natural habitats and in general, caused more harm than good. The author argues that agriculture is actually an assault on the planet Earth and food can be consumed without destroying environments. A largely contrarian book, the author offers an alternative viewpoint on the vegetarian movement to show that it is not actually entirely beneficial at all as what people think. This book serves as a good counter-point to the previous book mentioned in this paper as it questions the rationale of animal rights activists who prefer vegetarianism when it comes to their food choices. This book further expounds on the second and third types of food choices mentioned by Pollan, namely the organic food found in farmers markets and the industrial-organic food such as those found in Whole Foods outlets. The point is that agriculture can be sustainable and needs not necessarily be destructive when it comes to the environment. The author complements Pollans book by pointing out the moral or philosophical dimensions of eating animals raised from ecologically-sound farms. Read More