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Summary Of In Defense Of Food By Michael Pollan

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A Critical Review of Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” All animals around the world require food in order to sustain their livelihood and well-being. That said, humans are in a unique position because everything about our food system and the foods we eat has changed since the time we stopped hunting and gathering; our method of obtaining food, the types of food we eat, how it is produced, how we enjoy food, and the factors (e.g., government policies, activism, science) that influence our diets are completely different in the modern world. Our diets are comprised of highly processed and fortified foods that damage both our health and the environment in which we live; our identification and choosing of foods that are “good” and “bad” are …show more content…

One study examined aborigines who had developed Type 2 Diabetes and were at risk for CHD, by shifting their diets back to traditional hunter-gatherer practices they effectively improved their health in just 7 weeks (Pollan, pp.85-87). The remaining chapters of the book suggest how individuals can take a more critical approach to their dietary practices. Individuals should eat more like omnivores and stick to more traditional diets (i.e., lots of fruits and vegetables; Mediterranean, Indian, and Asian cuisines). He also emphasizes the importance of eating not just real foods (i.e., whole foods), but enjoying meals with family to regain/maintain the cultural importance of food–meals are a place to conversate, teach children manners and enforce social norms among other things–they should not be consumed simply for the sake of consumption in a car or in front of the TV (Pollan, …show more content…

By taking a critical approach to eating, individuals not only improve their health and well-being, but they also have the ability to change the food systems guided by harmful nutritionist ideology that maintains and promotes poor health practices. Conclusion Michael Pollen’s “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” highlights the significant shifts in the way we eat, critiques the harmful impact of nutritionism and a food system that prioritizes profit over health, and offers recommendations as to how individuals can take a more critical approach to nutrition and their overall well-being. Moreover, Pollan emphasized the critical role nutritionism, its constituents (i.e., public health officials, food scientists, journalists, and lobbyists), and the fortification of processed foods has drastically negatively impacted our health where we simultaneously experience micronutrient deficiencies and risk of chronic health-related diseases (i.e., Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, Obesity, Coronary Heart Disease, and

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He says that the human race should go back to the diets and lifestyles of our ancestors or in other words go back to the bush. Pollan however disagrees with Burkitts drastic solution and instead agrees with Gyorgy Scrinis’s (2008) solution to the problem, “the most important fact about any food is not its nutrient content but its degree of processing.”

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