Omnivore's Dilemma: Food Post 3

Omnivore's Dilemma: Food Blog 3

Transitioning from the natural corn to processed foods, the second part of chapter 5 in Omnivore's Dilemma describes how "people began processing food to keep nature from taking it back." This stood out to me because I never thought of nature taking food back, but simply took an 'expiration date' as the point after which a food begins to lose its taste and thus appeal or value. Reading Pollan's description made me think twice about how food 'expires'; After a long enough period of time where food is not consumed it decomposes, and in its natural environment is then reabsorbed by the earth as nutrients for soil. It makes sense that nature is, in a way, as if taking the food back and completing the cycle of life without putting anything to waste.

Pollan then goes on to describe how the term "food security" has changed as humans have evolved. Even today, when I think of the term "food security", I immediately picture a system of security or barriers to entry that protect crops from animals or hazards; this was in fact the meaning many years ago. However, today the term has adapted to how we view food in the modern day. As more and more foods are becoming processed and stray further away from the once natural product, what's important today is not necessarily the simple ingredient, but the recipe of combined ingredients. In that sense, the modern definition of "food security" is related to the protection of recipes instead of the actual product. In some bizarre way, "Recipes are not intellectual property; you can't patent a new cereal", therefore making them more valuable in a business sense today than the relatively low-cost ingredients that contribute to a processed food.

Looking back at these two aspects makes me think long and hard once again about the basics of human life. As humans we've evolved so much and adapted to maximise (most of the time at least) our use of resources. Yet despite the wonder of evolution, it makes me question whether 'artificial' is a term used just for foods, or for more aspects of life as well.