In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan does for corn what Rachel Carson did for DDT in Silent Spring ; that is to say, he totally demonizes it. After you read this book, the words "corn-fed" will sound more like a barnyard epithet than an evocation of rustic wholesomeness.
Many in the green community now consider Monsanto a four-letter word. But a decade ago when the company first debuted genetically modified crops, the innovation was embraced as a possible environmental panacea—one that could dramatically reduce the amount of chemicals needed to grow healthy crops and provide nutrition for poor and drought-ridden populations. On the tenth anniversary of this fast-growing biotech sector, the battle over its environmental impacts rages on.