Michael Pollan’s book, In Defense of Food, is a book that presents a very clear and rational position. The opening lines of his book are “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants”. Throughout the course of the book he elaborates upon why one should follow this advice. He makes thorough arguments and convinces the reader that while he does not know anything specific about how food accomplishes all the incredible feats it does, he does know that the nutritionist food industry does not know what it claims to. In reality, nutritionism has proven very little and succeeded in confounding an entire nation on a subject that its ancestors had managed to understand well enough to meet their needs.
In Defense of Food is organized into three main portions. The first explains to the reader what nutritionism is, and how it has never been proven accurate; new “science” is always appearing that counters the “science” that we were assured was absolutely true before. The second section goes into detail concerning the western diet: what it is, what it has done, and how nutritionism has been involved. The third and final portion of the book delves into the three initial points made at the very beginning of the book. Pollan explicitly states how to go about following his guidelines to reject the western diet and to adopt a more natural way of eating. He specifically extols the benefits of traditional, cultural eating.
Although the book spans a rather wide range of facts and advice, there is one unifying concept that the book presents to the reader. Occasionally it is revealed in a subtle matter, but more often than not Pollan thrusts the evidence to support his claims directly at the reader, doing away with tactful tiptoeing around the more politically sensitive aspects of his argument. This argument, the underlying theme of the book, is that nutritionism and the western diet are things that should not be heeded by anyone who truly cares about his or her health. Nutritionists, while simply doing their job the only way that they know how, cannot hope to understand the complexities of whole foods or the diets that encompass them simply by looking at the sum of their parts.
Pollan uses various methods to show his readers exactly why nutritionism does not work and how the western diet is detrimental to those who consume fuel – Pollan explains that the contents of the western diet cannot be declared food because they are processed beyond recognition- according to its patterns. One method he utilizes involves bombarding the reader with facts and statistics supporting his stance. However, unlike many other writers, he writes in a way that engages the reader, even when he is citing fact after endless fact. Pollan’s writing style draws the reader into the story he creates amidst all his facts. He manages to depict a solid stance using artful language, thematic storytelling, and convincing statistics.
One key element in his argument is that he does not claim to have any sort of hidden knowledge. He does not believe he knows more about how food works in conjunction with the environment and our bodies to sustain and enrich us than the nutritionists do. He simply makes the point that no one knows; we have no adequate way to understand or synthesize the complex synergies that exist within a whole food or diet. Pollan explains to his readers that since no one really knows how foods accomplish everything that they do, it is much better for our health and wellbeing to follow the wisdom of our ancestors; to eat according to traditions that have withstood the tests of time. This means that we must eat food – real, whole food – in ways that promote not individual nutrients, but the eating experience as a whole. The consumption of food is not a simple task of taking in fuel, but rather a complex, enjoyable necessity that should be treated with the utmost care and reverence. Eating has lost its place of honor through the western diet, and Pollan urges us to place it back in its rightful position.
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