#1 New York Times Bestseller from the author of How to Change Your Mind, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and Food Rules Food. There’s plenty of it around, and we all love to eat it. So why should anyone need to defend it? Because in the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion–most of what we’re consuming today is longer the product of nature but of … consuming today is longer the product of nature but of food science. The result is what Michael Pollan calls the American Paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we see to become. With In Defense of Food, Pollan proposes a new (and very old) answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Pollan’s bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we can start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives, enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating.
more
Enlightening. This book makes its case well, and taught me much I genuinely didn’t know. Very intriguing read, and one I’ll likely use as a general guide to healthier eating. No matter what you think about food or weight loss or anything related to the very basic act of eating and the more elaborate structures of cuisine, this book should teach you something and/ or challenge any beliefs you may already have.
4/29/21 – A thought provoking book by Michael Pollan. He forces you to think about the food system in place, how it’s not working, and why. He gives you rules to follow to eat which are achievable and yet not preachy at all.
Great,
Glad that people are starting to be more ware to what they are eating.
A “light switch” book. Excellent info in an easy to read format. Definitely inspires you to give greater consideration to the food you eat and the true nutrition you gain from it.
Helped me eat healthier.
I haven’t looked at what I put on the table, and where it comes from, the same way after reading this book. And am still educating myself.
This book changed the way I think about food and dieting all the way around. It was a perfect read for where I am in my journey for better health. Highly recommend!
Cuts through the cant surrounding modern nutrition. Includes the best lede since Moby-Dick.
Michael Pollan’s discourse on the food we eat has changed my view on “healthy” food. I have changed my food choices based on Michael Pollan’s recommendations.
I would challenge anyone to read Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food without becoming angry at Big Food and the government for systematically robbing our food supply of its most vital nutrients year-by-year. (I almost fell off the couch when I read that today’s eater would need to consume three apples to get the same nutrition in a single 1940-era apple.) I would also challenge anyone to read this and without deciding to make some serious changes to their diet: I couldn’t help but feel that even the “whole foods” that we often buy aren’t nearly as whole as I thought. I signed us up for a CSA before I got to the last page.
I read this as a follow-up to Genius Foods, which I read to gain insight on the most neuro-friendly diets. The good news for readers is that the two books agree; similarly, readers of Food of a Younger Land will be familiar with the advice to eat only food that would be recognizable to our ancestors. Pollan does spend significant time detailing the ways in which foods are changing – look no further than the apple example above – and in this way his work is similar to that of Bread, Wine, Chocolate only much more readable. In fact, I argue that of all the books in the food-is-bad-and-becoming-worse genre, In Defense of Food is the quickest and easiest read; although it covers similar terrain to Pollan’s The Botany of Desire, In Defense of Food is much more accessible – and much less dry.
If you do one thing for your health this year, read this book. Also, if you’re still eating margarine, it’s probably best to give that up, stat.
(This review was originally published at http://www.thisyearinbooks.com/2018/08/in-defense-of-food-eaters-manifesto.html)
I thought this would be interesting I was wrong. Reads like a text book.
The way we should eat
Good information. Readable prose.
This had good information, but was published 10 years ago so nothing was new. I am sure the information about high fructose corn syrup was quite a shocker 10 years ago. But today, not so much. Still a decent refresher.
Common sense wisdom written well
How nutritionism has made us sick. If you don’t know what nutritionism is, you owe it to your health to find out.
There’s a difference between eating food and the products of food-science. Michael Pollen defends pure food against the contributions of the food industry. So one of the surprises of the book is finding out that some things we eat and thought were good for us aren’t at all. Thus his mantra: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
I am curious about new developments in the world of “nutritism”. I think carefully about all new information I read and take it all with a grain of salt. I am a vegetarian who prepares or cooks most of the food we eat. I don’t use any packaged foods. When I want fast food I make a grilled cheese using whole fat cheese, butter