September 2006

Briefly speaking: Book offers food for thought

Being "on the same page" takes on added meaning as the UC Davis community reads The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals this fall for its fifth annual Campus Community Book Project.

And the pages of Michael Pollan's book about what we eat will come to life through activities as diverse as an art exhibit and a discussion about food marketing to college students to a tour of UC Davis' sustainable farming project and classes that critically examine its themes.

Sponsored by the Campus Council on Community and Diversity, the book project seeks to strengthen the sense of community among students, staff, faculty and community members by providing a common experience and provoking dialogue.

Read along

"Reading this book along with your student can provide a common thread for discussion and help build a connection around a topic besides grades," says Gary Sue Goodman, interim coordinator of the project.

She says this year’s book selection team was asked to choose a book about nutrition to tie in with the campus's Foods for Health initiative, an interdisciplinary effort to address issues of nutrition, obesity, availability of healthy foods, organic farming, industrial food production and more.

Pollan, who teaches at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and directs the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism, transports readers from "Iowa cornfields to food science laboratories, from feedlots and fast-food restaurants to organic farms and hunting grounds," in order to explore the interlocking dynamics that influence diet.

Should we have a fast food hamburger or a salad of organic greens from a local farmer’s market? Those choices are then dissected from a health, environmental, economic, political and moral point of view. Pollan writes, "What's at stake in our eating choices is not only our own and our children's health, but the health of the environment that sustains life on earth."

Special events

A discussion about The Omnivore's Dilemma will be held especially for parents during Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 21. It will take place in the King Lounge of the Memorial Union Building from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. -- letting participants out just in time to make the free barbecue before Aggies take on Southern Utah State in the Homecoming football game.

Other activities include a talk by the author at the Mondavi Center Nov. 29, and a complete calendar of events is available online.

The UC Davis Bookstore will offer The Omnivore's Dilemma at a discounted price of $16.95 through this fall.