Finished reading
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Thought it was excellent.
He takes 4 meals and tries to follow the food chain back to their originations, finding surprising difficulty in some cases. Alot of surprises (to me) along the way. One example was the idea of "free range chicken". Pollan visited one of these operations (one of the few that would let him inside) and was shown a warehouse packed wall to wall with a sea of chickens. For the first 6 weeks or so the chickens are not allowed outside at all for fear they will get some kind of disease. Then finally the gate is opened to allow them outside into what i envision is a fenced off "dog run" type yard. However Pollan observed that not a single chicken dared venture out into that unknown area. 2 weeks later they are slaughtered. Apparently to be "free range" you only need provide them access to outside, regardless of whether they use it.
Also, there is corn in everything.
Now I'm meandering through "
The Classic Slave Narratives", particularly "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano" which is pretty good, so far not as good as the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass", which is fantastic.
Also started The Grapes of Wrath last night.