In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
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Book Reviews of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
Book Review: Guiltless guide on how to eat...
Summary: 5 Stars
Often when we look at our lives and ways we can become more sustainable, the information is difficult to understand, confusing, or contradictory. Michael Pollan has been at the leading edge of trying to help sort the difficult choices that must be made in making our food systems more sustainable. In the book The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan explored our current food systems and how those choices impact the environment. In his latest examination of food choices, the book In Defense of Food takes a step back to critically examine what we should eat for our own health. (More after the jump)
While The Omnivore's Dilemma provides a solid foundation for individuals looking to lower their ecological footprint as it relates to the foods they eat, In Defense of Food creates a linkage between our food choices and what is best for our individual health. In essence Pollan picks up with In Defense of Food where he left off with The Omnivore's Dilemma. Pollan conveys critical information about the history of the food "industry" and how we have lost control of our own nutrition and sustenance. I was surprised by how much of the information presented in In Defense of Food that I had already encountered through news reports, internet articles, and general conversation; but the fact that Pollan condensed all of that information into an easy to read narrative format makes the book that much more powerful.
After finishing In Defense of Food, I felt like I had a more solid understanding of how I should orient my food choices in order to take control of my own health. Pollan avoids many of the issues relating to food system sustainability in In Defense of Food, but those connections remain as an underlying theme. Pollan avoids playing the role of a preachy nutritionist and instead focuses on providing information that allows individuals to take control of their own diets. My favorite aspect of the book is that Pollan provides the reader a fresh perspective on food choices without denying them the flexibility that makes eating a sensory experience.
I highly recommend this book (or any of Pollan's books) for anyone interested in better understanding food. I feel enlightened in my product selection when I wander the aisles of the grocery store and in many ways I feel empowered to make decisions that I might have written off before simply because Pollan provided a much needed sense of clarity. Pollan presents his case in a concise and entertaining format while avoiding pushing any particular ideology. I would highly recommend that anyone interested in reading this title dive into The Omnivore's Dilemma first (it's a bit more bulky then In Defense of Food) simply because the two titles combined provide a comprehensive education on food from both a sustainability stance and from a personal health stance. Unlike so many of the food titles on the market today, Pollan allows readers to walk away feeling more knowledgeable while avoiding a sense of guilt from their past food transgressions.
Book Review: being a mindful shopper & eater.....
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently finished Michael Pollan's short book, Food Rules and wanted to read more about food and how our western diet has caused many of the problems that we now face, as in the rise in obesity, diabetes and the like. How can children living in the city, with access to so much be overweight and undernourished? Mr. Pollan talks about how the processing our food into food-like substance has caused many of our problems, how we have gotten away from eating whole foods and how everything from the fertlizers that are used have made differences in our nutrition. I was consistently reading passages out loud to my husband because I was endlessly facinated with the subject. To get the nutritional equivalent of an apple circa 1940 would require you to eat 3 of today's apples for instance. He goes into the processing of our food, from food products your grandma (great or great grandma) would not even recognize as food. How our first processed food, flour, was processed as oils from the wheat germ would not stay fresh as long as when they were taken out. Enter the industrialization of flour and where each town had their own mill, now it could be done in large cities and delivered to far reaching areas as the oils would not go rancid. However, upon doing so, beri beri and other diseases became a problem due to the loss of the natural nutrients that were present in the germ. He speaks of eating "foods" (real ones), don't eat too much and eat mostly plants. He does eat meat as well, but he is careful to know what he is buying and how it is raised and fed. The feed of the meat that comes to your table is just as important as what you directly eat yourself.
Much of the book is good common sense and a good healthy distrust of the people who make our food and make money from processing our food. Though we can't change our supermarkets over night, we can buy less, buy better quality and buy from the outer edges of our market where the healthier items (the ones grandma can recognize reside) such as milk, cheese, green leafy veggies, colorful veggies, fruits, and the like. It is also a good idea to frequent your farmer's markets. This is where you can purchase good, whole foods that are local and at their peak of ripeness, taste and nutrients.
I must admit, I may be more interested in nutrition than most. Although I still eat processed foods, a good portion of my grocery budget is spent in the produce aisle, I do frequent my seasonal farmer's market, and I do purchase what I call the cadillac of chicken, which is the organic, no hormones, no antibiotics version. Is it cheap? No, I'm afraid it isn't, but I know that it is good and is better for me and I am not getting more than I bargain for.
I am seeking out more of Mr. Pollan's books as I find his writing to be fresh, interesting and educational and if I can make a few changes I think I will be well on my way to being a more educated and healthy shopper.
Book Review: Real Food Right Now
Summary: 5 Stars
"The human animal is adapted to, and apparently can thrive on, an extraordinary range of diets, but the Western diet, however you define it, does not seem to be one of them." Although this statement is on the hundredth page of the book, it may as well be on the first since our diet -- the "Western diet" -- is largely responsible for the decline in consumption of "real food", the preoccupation with nutritional content, and increasing rates of chronic diseases. Pollan's "In Defense of Food" breaks down into three broad sections: (1) the introduction of "nutritionism" & it's history; (2) the negative consequences of adhering to nutritionism; and three, what we -- as eaters -- can do to avoid the pitfalls of nutritionism, eat better, and become healthier.
Pollan attributes the emergence of nutritionism to five factors: (1) a shifting from whole foods to refined foods; (2) the deliberate simplification of our food stuffs; (3) the increase in quantity at the expense of quality; (4) the over-reliance on seeds instead of leaves; and (5), the undermining and replacing of food culture for food science. Although the reversal of these trends on a global scale may be slow and incremental, the changes made at an individual level may be immediate, insofar as the eater recognizes that "in order to eat well we need to invest more time, effort, and resources in providing for our sustenance...than most of us do today" (pp.145).
Some of the suggestions proffered:
1. Avoid food products containing ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, number more than five, or that include high-fructose corn syrup.
2. Shop the perimeter of the supermarket and stay out of the middle (the processed foods populate the middle of the market).
3. Frequent farmer's markets or subscribe to a community-supported agriculture (CSA) organization.
4. Eat a lot of leafy plants.
5. Be the kind of person -- but not the actual person -- that takes supplements.
6. Eat more traditional foods: French, Italian, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, etc.
7. Drink a glass of wine with supper..."people who drink moderately and regularly live longer and suffer considerably less heart disease than teetotalers" (pp.181).
8. Eat less by paying more.
9. Eat meals, not snacks: Don't graze all day -- we aren't cows.
10. Try not to eat alone.
11. Eat slowly...as promoted by the slow food movement and that which is antithetical to American fast food and the way of life it propagates: "Fast food is precisely the way you'd expect a people to eat who put success at the center of life, who work long hours (with two careers per household), get only a couple of weeks vacation each year, and who can't depend on a social safety net to cushion them from life's blows" (pp.195).
12. Cook.
This book is nothing short of concise, pointed, powerful, and...necessary. Highly recommended.
Book Review: Thoughtful, Thought-provoking ...
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been waiting for quite some time to read this book and I have another one of his books coming on the way. As a woman who has been looking for ways to change our family's eating habits, this book supports my position that we need to eat more plants and less processed food. A lot of the stuff Pollan mentioned in here is nothing new for me as I've read bits and pieces of it elsewhere in other articles and other books, as well as coming to my own conclusion from watching my extended family's eating habits.
Simply put, I do not care for "man-made" substances. I cannot tolerate man-made sweetners and even prescription drugs bother me. After reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Food, Miracle," I am shocked to realize that even though I am trying to eat more plants ... there aren't that many varieties of brocoli in the grocery store ... just one that produces great yield but not nearly enough nutrients. I knew about the soil leaching all the nutrients out, which is why farmers of old used to rotate their crops, but I didn't realize that plants do the same thing as well. Interesting.
This book is not an in-depth book on food like I had hoped for, but it is a great introduction on thought-provoking theories about the history of our eating habits in the last century. Personally, I feel a sense of relief that I am not the only one struggling with how to read a label these days ... I do get confused as to which is the "bad fat, good fat" and etc. Goodness knows, in this household, we love Oreo cookies and we know that it's not good for us ... but we love it anyways. But we don't gorge on it ... we try to supplement it with other good foods. Anyhow, that's not the point of Pollan's book. His point is, we need to change our way of thinking ... not just our eating habits, but the way we approach food. For some odd reason, Americans seem to think that eating is not pleasurable. And for some reason, no matter how much people diet, they still seem to get sicker every time.
This book presents interesting concepts and theories which are rather different from other "food" books that are out on the market. For me personally, this book has got me to look at my pantry a bit differently and trying to figure out how much more I can get away from processed food ... which I am already on the path of doing, and changing our eating habits to benefit the earth as well as for ourselves. There is an increased risk to heart disease and diabetes and the links are increasingly pointing to our eating habits. This book points a light at why it might be that way even if we're trying to eat better and healthier. There is a lot more to just eating ... there's food preparation, family get-togethers and more.
Definitely a book worth reading. It is definitely a stepping stone to exploring more options of finding out what our diet needs more of and a challenge to our way of thinking as well.
6/25/09
Book Review: Better health and weight control
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great book that spells out the way we all should be headed with lots of supporting facts and wit as well. The answer is so obvious, yet we've been blinded by the hype about our food. Digesting this information makes the picture very clear. It's something I've been thinking about for some time and appreciate the formal validation, plus I'm further moved to stick to real food, in lieu of the imitation food so easily available.
As a culture we're so eager to be smart about things, we've kind of shot ourselves in the foot over food, dissecting its nutrition, jumping on one band wagon after the next and all the while making ourselves sicker and fatter. The amount of information out there is overwhelming and confusing and makes even the most dedicated among us dizzy, so finding this straightforward and easy answer is a godsend. I've been trying the natural food approach lately and can report that when you eat natural food all those cravings go away. I feel great and am satisfied in a way I didn't think possible after countless years of deprivation dieting.
Mr. Pollan does a fine job of both giving the facts and making the read entertaining. His tongue in cheek presentation of various topics had me laughing out loud. I particularly loved the bit about health claims on product packages and the crazy fine print that makes them legal. He adds the funny example that even high fructose corn syrup could be proclaimed great for your health as long as the fine print stated that you used it to replace an equal amount of poison in your diet.
I guess we've been a little too smart for our own good and need to return to the very unsophisticated approach of eating stuff that comes in a peeling rather than in a box. This is easy to do, and cooking isn't as hard or as time-consuming as modern busy people are led to believe; it's just a different way of thinking. We've got all the gadgets to make cooking fast as well as rewarding. My grandchildren actually brag that Grandma cooks everything from scratch, even grows some of it. I didn't always, but I've changed my ways, and feel a lot better for it. I loved this book and think everyone should read it.