In Defense of Food – An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan
Reviewed by BridgetRatings
Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content
LANGUAGE
VIOLENCE
SEXUAL CONTENT
ADULT THEMES
Synopsis
Food. There’s plenty of it around, and we all love to eat it. So why should anyone need to defend it? Because most of what we’re consuming today is not food. Instead, we are consuming “edible foodlike substance” – no longer the products of nature, but of food science. Pollan urges us to once again eat food, by challenging the prevailing nutrient-by-nutrient approach, what he calls nutritionism. Pollan urges us to escape the Western Diet and the many chronic diseases the diet causes. Pollan sets forth a few guidelines, below are a few that are just plain common sense.
1. Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
2. Avoid food products containing ingredients that are A) Unfamiliar, B) Unpronounceable C) More than five in number, or that include D) high-fructose corn syrup.
3. Avoid food products that make health claims.
4. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle.
This book came highly recommended by my sister-in-law, Arielle. Arielle is a professional athlete, who earned a degree in exercise science with an emphasis on strength and conditioning from Brigham Young University.
Arielle Martin Verhaaren
2008 UCI SX World Cup Champion
http://go211.com/u/ariellemartin
This book has completely changed my family’s eating habits. After finishing the book, I spent a day reading the ingredient labels on all the food items stocked in our pantry, refrigerator, freezer and food storage room. I was stunned by the sheer number of foods labeled with the following phrases: “high fructose corn syrup”, “partially hydrogenated”, “palm oil” as well as many ingredients I had difficulty pronouncing. I am spending much of my “shopping trips” deciphering the content of ingredient labels. Seriously, can you believe there is high fructose corn syrup in chocolate milk? I feel enlightened regarding the history of nutritionism in America. I am now prioritizing preparing healthier meals for my family. Pollan’s chapter entitled, “Eat Food: Food Defined” is practical and common sense. Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.
©2009 The Literate Mother