Janelle Sims Blog #6

Within this week’s reading, Pollan attempts to make a sustainable meal that has each edible food kingdoms: “animal, vegetable and fungi” (Pollan 277). He tells his audience the overall full-course meal then moves to explain the continuing reality of “hunting and gathering.” Because of factory labor and growing farm production, hunting and gathering is neither an economically sound nor a time-efficient process. Through Pollan’s meal, he hopes to “briefly [rejoin] the shortest and oldest of food chains” (Pollan 281). Next, he reflects on his attempt to catch wild pigs in the woods. As a reader, I felt that Pollan was surprised at his reactions to his hunt. “But here it is: I enjoyed shooting a pig a whole lot more than I ever thought I would’ (Pollan 337). When he explained his shock of enjoyment, I felt that he said it in a tone that made me interpret a sense of shame and embarrassment. Perhaps the “animalistic” persona does not usually correspond with his rooted persona of an “eco-friendly, organic inducing” activist and author.
Apart from that, his ultimate wish is to create the perfect meal. Along with that, he is also hoping to have his dinner be a representation of the perfect society. The efforts taken to make a healthy, compostable and delicious meal are all efforts to better their personal health and the community. Even though his meal preparation was hours long, he still did not find himself pleased with his outcome. However, he did find the relevance between the natural world and a present-day family dinner to be refreshing.