A Look at Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food"

In the introductory chapter of Michael Pollan’s book “In Defense of Food,” he discusses a concept introduced in the past century, nutritionism. This term was introduced by Gyorgy Scrinis to represent the up and coming idea that foods can be broken down into their chemical subcomponents and be thought of as molecules rather than as foods. This way of thinking has paved the way for processed foods to advertise their nutritional values as comparable to whole foods. Pollan argues that this new wave of food logic has drawn us away from our ancestral eating habits and is leading us to have a diet of enriched-processed foods. He believes that this method of reducing food down to its nutrient components has drawn us away from the correct eating habit he breaks down very succinctly, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.”

Having grown up with a French mother, I agree with Pollan’s argument of the “French Paradox”. My dietary habits, although somewhat Americanized, have retained much of the influence of my grandmother’s cooking. In our family no one diets, no one counts calories, and no one obsessively checks nutritional facts. The reason being is that we try to eat by the standards set forth by Pollan. My Mom always advocates the idea of “having a balance meal”, and to my family this entails some kind of meat, usually a starch, a source of vegetables, a salad, and a fruit for dessert. Just by following these simple standards our family has always managed to stay lean, yet have fulfilling meals.

Pollan also does a good job of reflecting the instability of research over time. The one thing that research has proven over and over throughout the ages is that there is always more to be discovered. The example of breast milk substitute for infants, where breast milk substitute was found to be lacking many necessary nutrients, shows the serious consequences if research is not taken with a grain of salt. As Gerald Pugliese suggests in his New York Times article, "You have to differentiate junk science from good science." In the world of dietary habits the recommendations will always be changing. Thus the nutritionism theory is eternally instable. In recent years what has this done for us? Our nation has a rising obesity rate that shows no sign of reversing. Instead of taking a nutritionist approach we should take Pollan’s advice and the habits of our ancestors in eating “whole foods.”