We prefer to eat "natural," but avoid reality by choosing not to know the animals we eat - or the animals we are. The four meals of which Pollan gives us a natural history begin with a cheeseburger and fries from McDonalds, a meal which, of course, has no natural history. From there he moves to roast chicken and vegetables from industrial farming, from which we learn that if we are what we eat; then we are corn - and use far too much oil to maintain that identity. Our third meal takes us into organic farming, and a final feast of wild pig and mushrooms returns us to our earliest roots as hunters and gatherers. The menu and tour are fascinating, sobering and enlightening.

Reviewed by Jim B., Main Library

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