Book 20: In Defense of Food: Again

Okay, I'm ready to talk about In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. I really enjoy this genre of book: food and its effect on our health, our society, our environment, our economy, etc.... This book is no exception.

His advice is simply:

*Eat food. (not processed "food products" or food-like substances)
*Not too much.
*Mostly plants.

I love when he says that throughout most of human history, we were guided in our food choices by Culture, which is just a fancy word for your mother. Of course Moms buy most of the food, cook most of the food, dole out or withhold snacks and desserts, and nag us to eat our vegetables. Well, in the 1960s, Moms (along with the rest of Americans) started to be very influenced by Nutrition Science and government advice, rather than long years of experience and tradition. And we all became fatter and less healthy.

Pollan applies Gyorgy Scrinis's term "Nutrionism" to name the ideology of Western Food Thought. It is not science. It is a belief system about food, and it is basically this: foods are the sum of their nutrient parts. So, reduce food down into protein, carbs, and fats. Break it down into the vitamins that we can sense and have given names, and then you can let scientists make it in a pill. The problem is that real food is worth a lot more than the sum of its parts. Either we can't identify some parts of foods, or the parts have to work together to give us their full benefits. Real food is always much better and healthier than processed food products.

I really enjoyed his mention of the Puritan influence that still taints the way Americans feel about food: food shouldn't really be enjoyed. There should be just enough to survive on, but eating not an occasion for gluttony or some sort of animalistic orgy of pleasure. And when the "foreigners" came, with their goulashes and stews with many ingredients mixed together, flavors mingling, and all those sinful spices -- oh, catch me I'm fainting. Now if we can remove pleasure completely from food and instead follow rules and trust that scientists in labs will determine what is necessary and the government will tell us what rations to eat, that will be much safer. It's a fun theory to consider!

I'm so glad to be introduced to Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, who thought that animal protein promoted masturbation. He believed in complete abstinence. That's why he pushed grains so much, even starting a still-famous breakfast cereal company. This guy also ran a Sanitarium where he gave patients hourly yogurt enemas (including John D. Rockefeller and Teddy Roosevelt) and was a big proponent of eugenics, believing that immigrants would damage the gene pool.

It's entertaining and smart, with common sense advice.