In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto | Michael Pollan

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto | Michael Pollan | Interesting Book, Makes Sense, Not Too Long

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In Defense of Food...

	In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto Michael Pollan Penguin Press HC, The, 2008 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 181 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

What to eat, what not to eat, and how to think about health: a manifesto for our times "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." These simple words go to the heart of Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, the well-considered answers he provides to the questions posed in the bestselling The Omnivore's Dilemma. Humans used to know how to eat well, Pollan argues. But the balanced dietary lessons that were once passed down through generations have been confused, complicated, and distorted by food industry marketers, nutritional scientists, and journalists-all of whom have much to gain from our dietary confusion. As a result, we face today a complex culinary landscape dense with bad advice and foods that are not "real." These "edible foodlike substances" are often packaged with labels bearing health claims that are typically false or misleading. Indeed, real food is fast disappearing from the marketplace, to be replaced by "nutrients," and plain old eating by an obsession with nutrition that is, paradoxically, ruining our health, not to mention our meals. Michael Pollan's sensible and decidedly counterintuitive advice is: "Don't eat anything that your great-great grandmother would not recognize as food." Writing In Defense of Food, and affirming the joy of eating, Pollan suggests that if we would pay more for better, well-grown food, but buy less of it, we'll benefit ourselves, our communities, and the environment at large. Taking a clear-eyed look at what science does and does not know about the links between diet and health, he proposes a new way to think about the question of what to eat that is informed by ecology and tradition rather than by the prevailing nutrient-by-nutrient approach. In Defense of Food reminds us that, despite the daunting dietary landscape Americans confront in the modern supermarket, the solutions to the current omnivore's dilemma can be found all around us. In looking toward traditional diets the world over, as well as the foods our families-and regions-historically enjoyed, we can recover a more balanced, reasonable, and pleasurable approach to food. Michael Pollan's bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we might start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives and enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy.

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A Must Read: And here is why

Healing the Rift: Merging Science and Spirituality

Michael Pollan chronicles the dogma and misconceptions concerning food and food nutrition. With tens of thousands of books published each year on cooking, diet, food, and nutrition, few really give readers the information they need about healthy eating.

Like a trial lawyer systematically building his case to a jury, Pollan walks us through why our Western diet is killing us prematurely and what to do about it.

Although Pollan summarizes his book with: "eat food, not too much, mostly plants" this page turner will first convince you to abandon the Western diet and then pave the way for understanding what and how to eat.

This is a perfect follow up to his The Omivore's Dilemma.

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Interesting Book, Makes Sense, Not Too Long

Although Michael Pollan is not a nutritionist, I learned more about nutrition than ever in this book. I found it fascinating in the same way the Fast Food Nation was without going over the top... Michael stays on track in this book focused on what we eat, the way we eat, and how we eat. He books first revelation for me is that what we call food isn't in fact food. I am not just talking about McNuggets and Thickburgers, but much of the food we eat that been broken down into chemicals and reformulated... such as white bread with nutritents added or "enriched" back into the bread or Hydrox cookies filled with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) He also evaluates how we got to this point and how HFCS as well as other processed additives made its way into our diet. The other great thing I like is that he tells you the information and also ADVISES on how to use it. His motto of eat food, not too much, mostly plants is well thought and really resonated with me. It really made me look at the way I thought of food and how it has changed so much since reading this book. All and all, I found this book fabulous and gets the point across without being too wordy... I am STILL working through Marion Nestle's Food Politics

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Paradigm Shift!

Loved it. Changed how I eat - completely! Not about which fats or carbs you should or shouldn't eat. Fantastic. READ THIS BOOK! then grow your own veggies!

a useful reminder to us all

Everyone will find this book worth reading. If nothing else, it will remind you to keep some degree of necessary skepticism when presented with the next nutrition claims and fads. His arguement is simple: stop worrying about "nutrients" and just enjoy a diet rich in a variety of real, whole foods. If we can do this while exercising good judgement and portion control, we will live happier, healthier lives. The only dilemna I see to this advice is that it is actually difficult to find/afford to buy whole foods in today's supermarkets. Not everyone has access to buying organics (not that he recommends this as our only option), and produce is really so much more expensive than the processed "foodlike substances" that fill most of the aisles in the grocery store...

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