[lbo-talk] Alternet reviews Singer's latest (The Way We Eat)

[Colin Brace]

As a selective omnivore, I have an allergy to moralistic, crusading
vegetarians, these Puritans in jeans. Sorry, but I refuse to feel
guilty for eating a piece of bacon once in a while. I'd much prefer to
get my information from writers who give the impression they actually
*like* food, such as Michael Pollan. His "Botany of Desire" from a few
years ago explored the sociology and political science of four
agricultural products: the apple, the potato, marijuana, and a fourth
I can't remember (tulip maybe?), and he did so with great panache,
humor, insight, and affection for the subject (well, fascination in
the case of weed), without mincing words about  the disastrous affects
of multinational agribusiness on the humble spud.

I haven't read his latest tome, "An Omnivore's Dilemma", but I browsed
a few pages of it the other day in a bookstore. It compares the
agribusiness vs. commercial organic vs homegrown dinner table and
looks like it takes a similar approach to SInger's. I think I would
rather read this one instead. If some day I need some vegetarian
inspiration, I'll dig out my South-Indian cookbooks.

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  Colin Brace

  Amsterdam