Chapter 16 Response

Chapter sixteen is titled “The Omnivores Dilemma”, and for good reason. Chapter sixteen is all about the choices we have as omnivores when it comes to what we can and should eat. A quote that I really liked was in the first paragraph of the chapter. “The blessing of the omnivore is that he can eat a great many different things in nature. The curse of the omnivore is that when it comes to figuring out which of those things are safe to eat, he’s pretty much on his own.” I like this quote because I feel that it essentially sums up the point that Pollan is trying to get across in his book (possibly why the chapter has the same name as the book). Throughout this chapter Pollan talks about how and why we have become the “top of the food chain”. Not only is it natural selection and events of history, it has to do with everything about our bodies. We are able to eat almost anything, and often things we shouldn’t eat do not appeal to us, which is a strength we have as an omnivore. I believe this may be the most important chapter of the book because Pollan relates the title of the book to the entire chapter. He talks about how we are capable of surviving over any other species because of the way we eat. And although this is a very positive aspect of being human, the ability to eat such a plethora of things could be our downfall.