#105 In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
I'm willing to admit that my last read of 2010 (In Defense of Food), is a little out of character for me. I rarely read nonfiction, and when I do, it's
typically a memoir. I picked up in In Defense of Food for a couple reasons: it was recommended to me by one of my library patrons, and I've recently become more health conscience, and wanted to read a book about food that wasn't based on some fad diet. It looks like I got what I was looking for. In Defense of Food is a passionate defense of whole foods and traditional diets, as opposed to the processed “food-like substances” that now make up a large chunk of our grocery store. Pollan uses history, science, and snark to attack what he calls “nutritionism,” or western society's recent trend of analyzing food by it's individual parts (carbs, antioxidants, protein), and argues that in our attempts to make “health foods,” we are often making ourselves sicker.
Pollan brings up many interesting points in this book. So many, that I often regretted listening to the audiobook in my car instead of a paper book (despite the talent of the narrator), so I could take notes. Perhaps what struck me the most is Pollan's attack on the food sciences. He is eager to point out the limitations of reductive science, and how it's habit of demonizing one vital nutrient and canonizing another (Fat is bad! Carbs are good!) is an oversimplification of something as complex as food. As a result, the advice given by food scientists hves a habit of making us sicker and fatter, when we think we're eating healthier. Kind of scary. But the blame for the problems of the western diet doesn't fall solely on the shoulders of food science. He also points to the food industry, which of course wants to make money by selling as many food products as possible, regardless of the heath effects.
After spending two thirds of the book pointing out what's wrong with the western diet, Pollan then turns to giving the reader advice on what to eat. This mainly revolves around going back to more traditional diets, and rejecting processed foods. Although Pollan does not tell us specifically what to eat (at least much beyond his basic mantra “eat food, mostly plants), he does give an impressive amount of practical advice. Some of this advice seems easy to adapt (I found his section on portion sizes to be very helpful), but that is not the case for most if this section. Although Pollan acknowledges that it's “shameful” that not everyone in the U.S. can afford to eat healthy, he doesn't provide many alternatives for people that can't afford to spend more money on food (at least beyond the advice to cut out the cable bill). Still, I feel like a lot of the information presented here is sound, especially his urge to cook more from scratch.
There's a lot of information packed into this little book. Admittedly, my knowledge of food science, or eating healthy, is pretty much what you'd expect from an average American (that is to say, limited to memories from health class and information from the internet), so I feel as if I cannot really comment on the accuracy of his findings, at least until I educate myself more. Still, I felt as if much of what he speaks of in this book makes sense. I would recommend it for people wanting to know more about the history of the modern western diet.
Rating: four stars
Length: 205 pages
Source: Readfield Community Library
Similar Books: Really can't say. This is a new type of book for me.
Other books I've read by this author: this is my first
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish , and goodreads
Next up. My end of the year posts! Check out temporaryworlds tomorrow to see all the books I've read in 2010, including the 50+ books (I am not kidding you) I had to read over the summer for a class that did not get reviewed here. I will also be posting my THIRD ANNUAL (!!) top 15, on my blog and bookish. Looking forward to it.
typically a memoir. I picked up in In Defense of Food for a couple reasons: it was recommended to me by one of my library patrons, and I've recently become more health conscience, and wanted to read a book about food that wasn't based on some fad diet. It looks like I got what I was looking for. In Defense of Food is a passionate defense of whole foods and traditional diets, as opposed to the processed “food-like substances” that now make up a large chunk of our grocery store. Pollan uses history, science, and snark to attack what he calls “nutritionism,” or western society's recent trend of analyzing food by it's individual parts (carbs, antioxidants, protein), and argues that in our attempts to make “health foods,” we are often making ourselves sicker.
Pollan brings up many interesting points in this book. So many, that I often regretted listening to the audiobook in my car instead of a paper book (despite the talent of the narrator), so I could take notes. Perhaps what struck me the most is Pollan's attack on the food sciences. He is eager to point out the limitations of reductive science, and how it's habit of demonizing one vital nutrient and canonizing another (Fat is bad! Carbs are good!) is an oversimplification of something as complex as food. As a result, the advice given by food scientists hves a habit of making us sicker and fatter, when we think we're eating healthier. Kind of scary. But the blame for the problems of the western diet doesn't fall solely on the shoulders of food science. He also points to the food industry, which of course wants to make money by selling as many food products as possible, regardless of the heath effects.
After spending two thirds of the book pointing out what's wrong with the western diet, Pollan then turns to giving the reader advice on what to eat. This mainly revolves around going back to more traditional diets, and rejecting processed foods. Although Pollan does not tell us specifically what to eat (at least much beyond his basic mantra “eat food, mostly plants), he does give an impressive amount of practical advice. Some of this advice seems easy to adapt (I found his section on portion sizes to be very helpful), but that is not the case for most if this section. Although Pollan acknowledges that it's “shameful” that not everyone in the U.S. can afford to eat healthy, he doesn't provide many alternatives for people that can't afford to spend more money on food (at least beyond the advice to cut out the cable bill). Still, I feel like a lot of the information presented here is sound, especially his urge to cook more from scratch.
There's a lot of information packed into this little book. Admittedly, my knowledge of food science, or eating healthy, is pretty much what you'd expect from an average American (that is to say, limited to memories from health class and information from the internet), so I feel as if I cannot really comment on the accuracy of his findings, at least until I educate myself more. Still, I felt as if much of what he speaks of in this book makes sense. I would recommend it for people wanting to know more about the history of the modern western diet.
Rating: four stars
Length: 205 pages
Source: Readfield Community Library
Similar Books: Really can't say. This is a new type of book for me.
Other books I've read by this author: this is my first
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish , and goodreads
Next up. My end of the year posts! Check out temporaryworlds tomorrow to see all the books I've read in 2010, including the 50+ books (I am not kidding you) I had to read over the summer for a class that did not get reviewed here. I will also be posting my THIRD ANNUAL (!!) top 15, on my blog and bookish. Looking forward to it.