Omnivore's Dilemma

Most of you know that I'm a Registered Dietitian by profession, but I just plain love food! I love to eat it, I love to read about it, I love to cook it or bake it, I love to talk about it, I love to look for it, shop for it...you get the idea. And to be honest, I get sick and tired of hearing about the "obesity epidemic." We've become so weight obsessed that we forget that our food choices have implications beyond weight. So, being a self-proclaimed "foodie", "Omnivore's Dilemma" was a logical book choice for me. Besides, it's been sitting on my book shelf for several months, unopened.

Michael Pollan, the author, is a prolific writer and professor of environmental journalism at UC Berkley. He has no formal background in nutrition but has written several books on the topic (the most recent being "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto") as well as countless articles and received quite a few awards for his work.

In his book "Omnivore's Dilemma" Pollan explores the question "What should we have for dinner?" To answer this question, "he follows four meals, each derived through a different food-production system, from their origins to the plate. Along the way, Pollan examines the ethical, political, and ecological factors that are intertwined in the industrial, large-scale organic, small-scale organic, and personal (hunted-gathered) food chains, while describing the environmental and health consequences that result from our food choices within these chains." He illustrates how much power we hold with our food choices, and why the foods we eat have consequence beyond our waistlines....

He's an excellent writer and speaker, so this book should prove to be an interesting read that will make each of us think a bit more before making our next food purchase...

The List!

Here is the much-anticipated book club schedule:

January: Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (Marci Anderson)
February: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Margaret Jensen)
March: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (Blair Skidmore)
April: The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Adam Anderson)
May: Candy Freak by Steve Almond (Hillery Ray)
June: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (Loren Thomas)
July: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Taylor Simmons)
August: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey (Sam Skidmore)

Please also refer to the list on the side bar . . . it will be updated as more people want to host. Also, look at the post right before this one so that you know what to do when it is your turn to host. I'll try to send you an email to remind you when it is your month!

Directions for the Host

If it is the month for your book, here is what to do:

1.) Make sure you have accepted your invitation to author the blog through gmail.
2.) On the 15th of the month, go to blogger.com and sign in with your gmail address.
3.) Click on "new post."
4.) Introduce your book however you want . . . why you chose it, why you think it is important, something interesting about the author, etc. Add pictures or whatever you want!
5.) Click on "publish post" and it will be posted to the blog for everyone to read.
6.) On the 10th or so of the following month, go back to blogger and write any questions or thoughts or themes that you would like to discuss, post it, and wait for everyone to comment.

I hope that this is straightforward enough and that I am not being too bossy. Please let me know if you have any questions about how to use the blog. Tomorrow the fun begins!

Join the book club!

Hi Friends,
Sam and I decided that it would be so fun to re-initiate the good ol' Book Worm Book Club, but as we are all over the country now, maybe a blog would be the method. Here is how it works: if you want to participate, send me your gmail (it has to be) email address and I will include you on the list of people who can publish on the blog. We will each pick a book to submit to the lineup (email that to me too) and then draw the order of the books to read. When it is your month you will post any questions or discussion points for your book and everyone can post comments. One more thing: If your book is next and you didn't post a comment for the previous book, then your selection gets bumped to the end of the list. This is to ensure that you are actually reading the books. How does this sound? We thought that we could start the first book in January. Let me know if you have any other suggestions or think something should be changed. I am so excited to get started!
Cheers,
Blair