Michael Pollan’s New Book Teaches the Secrets Behind What Kids Eat

Kids can be the pickiest eaters around, rejecting anything that smells, looks, or feels “weird,” an all encompassing term with a highly flexible definition. Rather than seeing this as an obstacle to a well-rounded nutritional experience, why not harness a child’s natural tendency to be suspicious of food and use it for good? Michael Pollan is doing just that with the release of The Omnivore’s Dilemma for Kids: The Secrets Behind What You Eat. Just released in hardcover, paperback and Kindle editions, The Omnivore’s Dilemma for Kids uses plenty of photos, graphs and charts—and a fun format—to encourage kids, tweens and teens to think about what they are eating, how it was produced and what that means for their future and the planet.

In easy to understand language, Pollan explores the same themes he introduced to adult readers with The Omnivore’s Dilemma—the industrial system, organic systems, sustainable systems and the ever-present use of corn in our food supply. Even for kids, there’s really no way to pretty up an industrial feedlot, which is why the book is recommended for 12 and up (but written so that younger kids will understand).  However, keeping the harsh facts of modern agriculture hidden from kids will only serve a system that doesn’t have their best interests at heart.  We are at a unique crossroads in the American agricultural system and arming kids with the information now, as they begin to form their food identities, will empower them to demand food from humane, sustainable, socially just systems.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma for Kids: The Secrets Behind What You Eat will give new meaning to “Eat your dinner, it’s good for you.”

Author Michael Pollan pictured with AWA team members Emily Lancaster, Brigid Sweeney and Anna Bassett.