In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

In high school we had a foreign exchange student from Italy, Laura, attend Wichita Public High School for a year. You are welcome to think that living in Wichita for a year would be a more of a punishment rather than an "equal exchange", but I like to think that probably more than any of us who currently live in major metropolitan U.S. cities, she got a feel for how the majority of Americans live. I remember her telling me that she missed mozzarella-- at home it was fresh and came packed in liquid. I had no idea what she was talking about-- mozzarella, like all cheese, came shrink wrapped in a uniform block and resided in the refrigerated section at Dillons.

When I moved to Boston after graduation, I was suddenly exposed to many more fresh foods: the fresh mozzarella, fresh pasta and sauce, fresh, brown eggs and...the Farmer's Market! (I also missed foods of my own, like pimento cheese spread.)

It's now been more than 10 years and I eat and cook much different than I did growing up. Part of this is expense-- the prepackaged food are more expensive than making a huge pot of red beans and rice. But part of it is also thanks to Michael Pollan. The Omnivore's Dilemma exposed how much high fructose corn syrup is in everything and how Big Farming has environmental as well as health costs. If we're able to be responsible consumers, why shouldn't we?

His new book, In Defense of Food, tells us how to identify the real food (fresh mozz in water) from the fake food (block of white cheese "product" encapsulated in plastic with a list of ingredients longer than this post). Pollan tells us that we've been duped by scientists and nutritionists with every passing food fad (currently Omega-3s) and that sometimes the sum is greater than the parts (supplements just don't provide the same total nutrition that whole grains and plants do). His advice is threefold: Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants. Sounds easy and logical, but he breaks down how the Western Diet has made it difficult; we eat mostly processed and refined foods, with additives, we eat portion sizes much bigger than most cultures, and take our cues on satiation not on feeling, but on visual clues and finally we are a culture which eats many pounds more of meat per person per year than other cultures.

Mr. Pollan's premise in this book is radical because it is so different than how we eat, and how we grew up eating. It presents a doable challenge and ultimately reminds us that is what is good for the environment is also good for our health, and vice versa. This book gets 5/5 netflix stars.