Omnivore's Dilemma: Chapters 5 & 6

In Chapters five and six of "The Omnivore's Dilemma," Michael Pollan talks about the idea of processed food. He specifically explains the processing of corn through a process called "wet milling." Wet milling is a high-energy process that yields products such as gluten, corn starch, ethanol, and most prominently fructose which is then used to make high-fructose corn syrup. Pollan explains that food consumption is limited by the fact that people will not eat past being full thus growth in the market in the food industry comes only from population increase. Because of this, corporations are forced to find ways to increase profits in order to be able to survive in a growing economy. Processing food helps achieve this goal in two ways: by making people spend more money on the same foods and by making people eat more food than before. At the same time, however, Pollan believes that processed food is not beneficial to the consumer. In a separate article for the New York Times, (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html) Pollan mentions that we have gone from eating "food" to eating "foodlike substances." We are tweaking and altering products found in nature to the point where they hardly retain any of their natural characteristics.

Discussion Questions
1) How do you feel about the rising prevalence of processed foods?
2) Do you think you are affected by labels and sizes of food products?