Finding your roots in vegan food

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” This has become the famous mantra repeated by fans of Michael Pollan, the guru of the geopolitics of food. Pollan, author of the best-selling “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” wrote this seven-word distilled message on the front of his newest book, “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” (Penguin Books, 2008). Of course, this handy aphorism inspires hope for those of us who are omnivores. It gives us the promise that, after we eat all those vegetables, grains and whatnot, we might be able to enjoy a sliver of cheese, a bit of fish or a small hunk of (hormone-free, organically fed) meat.