Because in the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion--most of what we’re consuming today is longer the product of nature but of food science.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.
Maybe this is now common place info or maybe being a food growing long time vegan I'm just immersed in food info but I got very little from this and was actually quite irritated that there was almost no talk of the systemic limitations to most of the concrete suggestions (which almost all boil down to spend more money) besides "lots of Americans can't actually do that" ??? ben la, not helpful
We listened to this on the way to Atlanta and we were both captivated by it. I am one of those eaters who does not pay attention to what foods I'm putting in my mouth - nor am I even conscious of eating at times. So this book made me think about my relationship to food and how it needs to change. Also, Scott Brick is an excellent reader and I look forward to listening to his other works.
Athena bought this for me for my birthday, after I'd been raving about "The Omnivore's Dilemma" for weeks.
In some way, Pollan's new book picks up where "The Omnivore's Dillema" left off, though I would caution potential readers that this is a very different kind of book.
While "The Omnivore's Dilemma" contextualized well-written-research-cum-investigative-journalism in history and culture and paired it with commentary that carried an admitted slight bias, "In Defense of Food" really aims to answer the big question that the aforementioned commentary caused readers to pose to themselves and Pollan: "Okay, so what am I supposed to eat then?"
What I like about this book is that it answers the question generally. The from cover features the motto "Eat Food. Not much. Mostly plants." These six words, thankfully, do not become a mantra, but rather, a table of contents of sorts. Pollan is humorous, down-to-earth, and candid regarding his …
Athena bought this for me for my birthday, after I'd been raving about "The Omnivore's Dilemma" for weeks.
In some way, Pollan's new book picks up where "The Omnivore's Dillema" left off, though I would caution potential readers that this is a very different kind of book.
While "The Omnivore's Dilemma" contextualized well-written-research-cum-investigative-journalism in history and culture and paired it with commentary that carried an admitted slight bias, "In Defense of Food" really aims to answer the big question that the aforementioned commentary caused readers to pose to themselves and Pollan: "Okay, so what am I supposed to eat then?"
What I like about this book is that it answers the question generally. The from cover features the motto "Eat Food. Not much. Mostly plants." These six words, thankfully, do not become a mantra, but rather, a table of contents of sorts. Pollan is humorous, down-to-earth, and candid regarding his advice, which attempts to take regional differences, special diets, and modern roadblocks (lack of diversity in the supermarket, the financial constraints on a food budget that many people deal with) into account.
When grounded in the knowledge garnered from reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma," this advice makes a whole lot of sense. But I'll be most interested to hear Athena's review, since this is the first Pollan book she's reading, and I'm curious as to whether I accepted these loose guidelines for eating because I've become a Pollan disciple and just recently burned several food facts into my brain or because of the support he gives his claims within this volume.
Either way, I recommend it, but probably more as an appendix to "The Omnivore's Dilemma" than anything else.
