The Omnivore's Dilemma: A 'must read' for Wheaton freshmen

In spite of our national obsession with food and diet, few of us truly think about the food on our plates, and how it got there. This summer, on beach blankets across America, Wheaton's incoming first-year students are thinking about just that, as they tackle their summer reading assignment, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan.

Wheaton has been assigning required summer reading for incoming students for 25 years. ''Our faculty committee seeks to identify a book each year that helps students bridge the gap between high school and college reading, and I think The Omnivore's Dilemma does this very well,'' says Bill Goldbloom Bloch, associate provost and professor of mathematics. ''In fact,'' he notes, ''we're hearing from a number of long-time faculty members that this is the best book the college has ever chosen for the summer reading assignment.''

The book takes a naturalist's look at the food we eat, revealing how distant we have become from its production. Pollan presents the genesis of four meals: a cheeseburger and fries from McDonald's; roast chicken, vegetables and a salad from Whole Foods; grilled chicken, corn and a chocolate soufflé with ingredients from a sustainable farm; and a repast of wild foods (foraged mushrooms and pork from a hunted pig).

''The book explores questions to which everyone can relate,'' Goldbloom Bloch says. ''What to have for dinner and the choices that go into food selection are both timely and thought provoking, in part because we live in a country where the array of food choices seems overwhelming for many of us.''

The book also dovetails with the college's approach to learning. Wheaton's Connections curriculum links sets of courses from different academic disciplines, stressing the value of examining subject matter from different perspectives. For instance, the Connection entitled ''Food'' pairs the First-Year Seminar ''The Rituals of Dinner'' (which draws upon anthropology, religious studies and psychology) or the anthropology course ''Feast or Famine: The Ecology and Politics of Food'' with a science course on nutrition or plant biology.

Goldbloom Bloch says this summer's book is one of the most interdisciplinary reading assignments he has seen. ''Its focus includes science, global sustainability and the humanities. It is already sparking some input from students who have been monitoring Blackboard discussions and e-mailing campus over the summer, inquiring about the college's food choices.''

Goldbloom Bloch notes that during the 1970s there was ''a big wave of interest and changes made to food choices on campus,'' and he anticipates that the summer reading will prompt a new debate. As a result, he has already ''tipped off'' the folks in dining services, and the college has made a copy of the book available to them.

The Omnivore's Dilemma was suggested for the reading assignment by Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, associate professor of religion, who teaches the popular seminar on food and ritual.

Betsey Dyer, professor of biology, also favored the choice. Dyer and other faculty members will be taking the book's theme a step further when first-year students arrive on campus. ''We have joined a community garden in Sharon, which is run by the Moose Hill Audubon Society, and we'll be taking three groups [of first-year students] there to work and harvest food,'' says Dyer, who teaches the seminar ''The Complete Amateur Naturalist.'' ''The food will be brought back to campus and stored or preserved for a large October feast.''

Other food, she says, will be harvested from a small campus garden and through a foraging trip in local woods, which she and a colleague will lead. ''The Omnivore's Dilemma will make all of this relevant to the students who will gather and enjoy the food,'' she says.

All 30 of Wheaton's First-Year Seminar professors are required to read the book, and many others have been snapping up copies in recent weeks. By the fall, it is estimated that nearly half of the faculty will have read the book.

''I'm getting very positive feedback from other faculty members who see the book as a nice tie-in with their courses,'' says Goldbloom Bloch.