In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by
Michael Pollan
My rating:
3 of 5 stars
I decided to finish this after almost putting it down for good and I'm actually happy I did because the last section of the book, titled "Getting over Nutritionism" turned out to be the best part, at least in my opinion, in which he breaks down into detail his famous statement:
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants". This section is less heavy-handed with scientific facts and studies about nutrition and how flawed he believes the science of nutrition has become, and instead more about common sense, something that Pollan says has all but disappeared within the American [eating] culture.
While I completely agree that "nutritionism" as a science is definitely flawed, and that we have certainly placed too much trust in the FDA and similar industries, my reason for docking points from the book overall isn't because of how heavy-handed the scientific evidence is, as I would rather see a book focused on scientific fact than not, but instead because of my issue with the way Pollan presents the science. It's almost like he's poo-pooing science and nutrition overall and implying that almost none of what we've discovered over the last 100 years as far as nutrition and health goes is as important as what our ancestors ate 1000 years ago, which to me just stinks of bias on his part and isn't incredibly responsible or thoughtful of him in that regard. Now I'm not saying that I'm on nutritionist's or industrial-farming's side, in fact I'm far from it, but oftentimes I was shocked that he would so easily dismiss the obvious advances and benefits science HAS had on modern human lives in favour of essentially eating as they did thousands of years ago...when people lived half as long as they do now due to poor health, poor nutrition, incurable (at the time) illnesses, and when eating WAS literally survival as we couldn't always be sure if we'd live or die from eating the wrong berry or leaf...BUT I DIGRESS.
One of the best quotes that I found in the book, and one that sums up my feelings on the subject overall, comes right near the end:
"...you have to wonder whether it's realistic to think the American way of eating can be reformed without also reforming the whole American way of life. 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 weeks of vacation each year, and who can't depend on a social safety net to cushion them from life's blows"
I completely agree with Pollan's statement on how the American way life has infected their concept of food, health, nutrition, community, farming, relationships, and where their food actually comes from (except perhaps the bit about the two-career household, as this is not a strictly American concept and doesn't necessarily beget an unbalanced relationship with food and eating). I have read so many books comparing American (and to a lesser extent Canadian) culture to other, more traditional, cultures around the world - such as Mediterranean, Asian, Nordic etc. - and the American way of doing anything always comes up short in pretty much every aspect of living well, including the differences in the way we eat and our losing touch with the way our food is being farmed / produced. It's pretty sad to tell you the truth, but that doesn't mean there isn't hope that something can still be done - as he states in the last paragraph of his book:
"I'm thinking of the relationship between the plants and the soil, between the grower and the plants and animal he or she tends, between the cook and the growers who supply the ingredients, and between the cook and the people who will soon come to the table to enjoy the meal. It is a large community to nourish and be nourished by."
If Americans (and Canadians to a lesser degree) began to think of this "shortest of food chains" as he has laid out for us above as being the norm, compared to the long, complicated, harmful and highly processed food chain that is the new norm for them now, then they might just have a chance to change the way they think about food for good. This change in their relationship to food and how it is produced, processed, and eaten would have a ripple effect, bettering not only the health of the planet, but the health of their bodies and relationships with each other as well.
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