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All of us are buffeted by the ebb and flow of the food fads which are an inescapable part of our times. Few of us go beyond them to try and understand the motives (not always altruistic) and implications (not unfailingly beneficial) of these "flavours of the day". Michael Pollan does.

Drawing on his formidable powers of investigative journalism, Pollan argues his profound insights with passion and eloquence. His prose, though occasionally heavy for an infant on the path to literary erudition like me, is often exquisite - when he talks, for example, of the 'collective spasms' which afflict our times, the restoration of the 'blamelessness of steak', the 'moral stain' on bread and pasta bankrupting bakeries , 'the koala's culinary preferences (which) are hardwired in its genes' , 'the cornucopia of the American supermarket (which) has thrown us back on a bewildering food landscape' , the lack of 'a steadying culture of food' , paying 'the full karmic price of a meal' , or 'the intricate dance of domestication'.

We agree with Pollan that the confusion and anxiety surrounding what to eat is rooted in the rootlessness of a relatively new nation formed of many immigrant populations who have lost touch with their native wisdom , and exacerbated by the double-edged sword of omnivory which ' offers the pleasures of variety ' and ' allows humans to successfully inhabit virtually every terrestrial environment on the planet ' but brings a lot of stress with it ', notwithstanding our big and intricate brains and expert help from investigative journalists and nutritionists .

We accept Pollan's argument that our place in the food chain has changed us just as we have modified the food chains we depend on . We must be grateful to Michael Pollan for reminding us that with greater power comes greater responsibility ; and that our position at the top of the food pyramid demands that we eat responsibly .

- Aparajita Bhattacharyya