In Defense of Food

In his non-fiction book, In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan argues that most of the stuff we put into our mouths is not actually food. At least it’s not the food our great, great grandmothers would have recognized as food. Instead of food, we're consuming "edible foodlike substances,” which are produced by food science, rather than nature. Many of them come packaged with health claims, such as “trans-fat free,” that make us think they are healthy, but in reality, are most likely distracting us from the fact that they are actually not healthy. The result is what Michael Pollan calls the American paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we seem to become. To solve this problem, Pollan offers some simple and catchy advice: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. By urging us to once again eat real food, he challenges the popular nutrient-by-nutrient approach, what he calls nutritionism -- and proposes an alternative way of eating that is informed by the traditions of real, unprocessed food. I really enjoyed this book because it is current and relatable. In society today, everyone is looking for the new fad diet that “really works.” Whether it’s Atkins or Jenny Craig, we’re being told that nutrients enrich food, instead of depleting it, which is what Pollan argues. Therefore, it was very interesting and informative to get an alternate perspective. Because, to be honest, Pollan’s simple advice makes much more sense than the crazy dietary rules of the fad-diet companies!