Thought for Food

Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, once again addresses an evolving problem with food in America with his new book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. Pollan claims that "nutritionism" is ruining our food in that we are constantly bombarded with new and often incomplete scientific data on what humans need nutritionally. This leaves us with stores full of foods that are not really foods, but prepackaged, processed bundles of nutrients that food industry giants claim are good for us.

Pollan points out that only in the last 100 years has food become about convenience, losing its connection to community and tradition. He gives three simple rules to follow when eating, "Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much."

Pollan encourages looking at our food consumption as systemic and not just about how it will affect our bodies, but how it affects our communities and ecological systems. He says, "Of course, thinking ecologically is not strictly about the environment -- it's about the whole system in which we live," making the point that if we open up to our experience of food we will enrich our lives and communities.

You can read an interview here with Michael Pollan discussing In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.