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.

Do omega-3 fatty acids have the power to deliver us from evil? There's a lot of buzz about super foods and all their super powers these days, but the hype about omega-3's goes beyond buzz; these fatty acids found in fish, flaxseed, some nuts and plants, as well as meat, eggs, and dairy products from grass-fed animals, are hotter than a barrel of Arctic Monkeys.

When it comes to cows, we keep hearing that grass-fed is better than grain-fed. Better for us, better for the cows, better for the environment. Farmers have grazed their cows on grass for centuries, with no need for bovine growth hormones, and no outbreaks of mad cow disease or E. coli.

But the factory farms most of our beef comes from these days aren't really farms at all; they're industrial indoor feedlots called Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFO's.

Do plants communicate telepathically with the world surrounding them? Do they collaborate with nature using telekinesis to control people and animals and objects? These questions surfaced last week as I read about sage plants, which blossom at incalculably irregularly times—yet when they do, every nearby sage blossoms in unison. The question was posed: Is it plant telepathy?