About this title: From the author of the bestselling "The Omnivore's Dilemma" comes this bracing and eloquent manifesto that shows readers how they might start making thoughtful food choices that can enrich their lives and enlarge their sense of what it means to be healthy. (Consumer Health)
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Penguin Press
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594201455ISBN:1594201455
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Clean inside out, tight binding, very good cover. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 256 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: New. 0143114964 NEW: NEVER READ, DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER TO OUR WAREHOUSE...! ! ! ! . (may have faint shelf wear from bookstore). ALL ORDERS SHIP SAME OR NEXT BUSINESS DAY, FREE POSTAL DELIVERY CONFIRMATION FOR U.S. ORDERS, TOP CUSTOMER SERVICE! ! ! ! read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Penguin Press
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781594201455ISBN:1594201455
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. VG+/VG+ 244 pp. Near new condition. Very gently thumbed, extremely tight and clean, minimal wear overall. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Press
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780739497685ISBN:0739497685
Description: Good. Cover and pages may have some wear or writing. Binding is tight. We ship daily Monday-Friday. Delivery Confirmation included on all domestic orders. read more
Those are the first sentences of Michael Pollan's delightful little book In Defense of Food. In fact, as Pollan himself admits, there's not much more to it than that. So, how to fill up a whole book when those three first sentences tell it all?
Well, as simple as that advice seems, the first sentence is more complicated than it may appear. Eat food. Sure. Of course. What else would we eat? But as we all know and often try not to think too much about -- what is labeled as "food" these days isn't often really food. It is processed food stripped of everything that once made it food, and then "fortified" with the vitamins and minerals it was stripped of, and loaded with various non-food items such as high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and a multitude of non-pronounceable mystery ingredients. As just one example, Pollan lists the ingredients of Sara Lee's "whole wheat white bread" which in and of it self seems to be an oxymoron. How can white bread be whole wheat? As Pollan rattles off the makings of this mystery bread, you can't help but laugh. Instead of the basics of any "real" bread (yeast, flour, water and salt), Sara Lee's version instead has over 32 ingredients, with only about 4 that one can recognize as actual food items.
Pollan points out that, though we may be the most evolved and intelligent of all the species on the planet, we are also the only species that require food charts, diagrams, pyramids and a panel of "experts" to tell us what to eat. He goes through the history of all these "expert" recommendations, much of which seems to change with each year. First margarine would save us all from heart disease. Then... oops... turns out margarine actually significantly increases our chances of getting heart disease. First low fat food will help you lose weight. Then... oops... looks like it's the carbs that might be making you fat. But hold on....some carbs are actually good, it's the simple ones that are bad. And about all those different fats....
What are we to do with all this conflicting and changing information?
Pollan suggests a diet of fruits and vegetables, meat that is 100% grass fed, and anything that is genuinely real food. As a guide, he recommends avoiding anything that has more than a handful of ingredients (especially if you can't pronounce any of those ingredients). Shopping at a farmer's markets is always a good idea as well. He also suggests that you pretend you are grocery shopping with your great grandmother. If you pick up something that Grandma would see and say "What the heck is THAT?" then it's probably not real food and should stay on the shelf. After all, it has a long shelf life anyway, and could stay there for years and years without going bad. So there's no real rush to put it in your cart anyway. :)
Did Pollan only cite research studies that support his biases? Probably. In fact, I'm sure he did. There's so much conflicting info out there, that you can find research to support virtually any nutritional leaning you want these days. But I happened to agree with many of the points Pollan makes, so I didn't mind the bias. :)
I found In Defense of Food to be informative, educational and surprisingly funny. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in nutrition. Or anyone who eats."
"Everyone should read this book before their next trip to the grocery!
We all need to take action to insure the safety and sustainability of our food chain. You can make change just by reading the labels and knowing what you are eating. If you don't buy it, maybe it wont be so profitable and reason will re-enter the marketplace."
"Unique insight to our nation's obsession with food and dieting. A "must read" if you've ever wondered why it's so difficult to find "real food" (as opposed to prepackaged, precooked, heat-n-serve) in the supermarket. Heard an interview with M. Pollan on NPR and bought book immediately...it changed how I view and shop for food."
"I finished reading this book just this morning. It's less lengthy than the other books of his I have (and have not yet read: The Omnivore's Dilemma and Botany of Desire). I do look forward to those other books, but I was invigorated by In Defense of Food as it takes an informed activist approach to looking at how and why we eat the way we do, and what "forces" are interested in maintaining that zeitgeist. The option Pollan counters with is so simple, so logical, so easy (once one gets past some newly acquired habits) that it begs to be adopted. What a relief to drop the mania to look for the newest nutritional study for guidance, the need to be a chemist to figure out what to look for in food labeling. This fits so well, so hand-in-glove, with some other threads in my life, towards simplicity in structure, toward logic and pragmatism, toward acting upon ideals, toward health, toward gardening expansion. This is a book of substance, but a pretty easy and fast read. Recommended."
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