In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

by Michael Pollan
4 Stars
Nonfiction: Other
205 pages
Published 2007

Ellie's Review
I recently realized that as the main grocery shopper and cook for my family, I determine most of what my children and husband (in addition, obviously, to what I eat). With that pressure, I decided to read this book to learn about eating healthy.  I feel bombarded with new information that I've just recently heard about including antioxidants, gluton, partially hydrogenated oils, triglycerides, etc.  After reading this book, I am not so overwhelmed and know some great ways to provide a healthier diet for my family.

Pollan's first main point is to "eat food".  Go away from processed foods and stick to whole foods.  Pretend like you're grocery shopping with your grandmother or great-great-grandmother and only buy things at the grocery store she would recognize.  The movement of Nutritionism that focuses on individual nutrients is in favor of adding vitamins, etc. into foods such as cereal rather than eating a whole food that is healthy.  That does not yield the same benefits.  Food science is always changing what is good or bad for you.  Just eat whole foods.  His second point is the eat "not too much" food.  His third point is to eat "mostly plants".  I learned about various studies of diets around the world compared to the Western Diet and how the differences might be responsible for drastically different cancer and other disease rates among the populations.

This book taught me some basic ways to buy healthier food for my house.  For the first time, I now have a desire to plant a garden and grow some organic, fresh foods for our consumption.

Book Summary
Michael Pollan's last book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, launched a national conversation about the American way of eating; now In Defense of Food shows us how to change it, one meal at a time.  Pollan proposes a new 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.