I'm posting this entry as "Part II" because I wrote an earlier piece on the first half of the book after it rode away from me, along with a backpack full of our belongings, in a New York City cab last month. When I returned to Colorado, however, Gregg gifted me a paperback copy of the book, which he acquired second-hand at the newly-opened Printed Page bookshop in Denver.
By way of review, Michael Pollan uses the first part of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, to critique what he calls "nutritionism," the tendency of food science and national policy over the last several decades to look at food and healthy eating in terms of individual nutrients, an approach that has allowed the producers of "food-like substances" to make outrageous nutritional claims and in effect wrested the expertise of eating from both mom and the American populace and handed it over to the "experts." As a result, Pollan argues, we have actually become more confused about what we should eat and less healthy as a people.
In subsequent chapters he makes the case for diet as the principal cause of so-called "Western diseases" including obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and possibly certain cancers. He cites various studies, including a 1982 study by Kerin O'Dea in which a group of Aborigines--all 10 of whom had moved to the city, adopted a Western diet, become overweight, and developed type 2 diabetes--were brought back to spend 7 weeks at home in the bush, where they went back to their hunter-gatherer lifestyle. At the end of 7 weeks, as determined by a blood test, all 10 showed marked improvements on virtually every health measure.
Far from being able to control for a single nutrient, which, as Pollan points out, is extremely hard to do in any sort of nutritional study, O'Dea's wholistic approach looked at diet in its entirety--an approach that Pollan argues in favor of throughout the course of the book. Point by point, he makes the case for eating whole foods over refined; a complex diet instead of a simple one; quality versus quantity; whole leafy plants (which contain omega-3's) rather than just omega-6 containing seeds (on which much of the American diet is based); and divorcing ourselves from "food science" in favor of "food culture."
In one particularly alarming look at quality versus quantity, Pollan cites USDA figures that show "a decline in the nutrient content of the 43 crops it has tracked since the 1950's... vitamin C declined by 20%, iron by 15%, riboflavin by 38%, calcium by 16%." Putting it in layman's terms, he explains that "you now have to eat three apples to get the same amount of iron as you would have gotten from a single 1940 apple." Why is this the case? Because major monoculture farming operations have continually selected for quantity rather than quality. The commercial apples are fed fertilizers designed to speed up and maximize production rather than nutritional value, and the fruits themselves have evolved into the nutrient-deficient mass produce that we buy at the supermarket and consume, now in greater quantities--arguably so that our bodies can fulfill the need for those missing nutrients that they crave.
Incidentally, the argument for consumption of wild foods coincides with the above observation; since wild foods have not undergone generations of artificial selection, they remain as nutrient-rich as they ever were. This is one of the reasons why purslane and lamb's quarters, considered by most Americans to be common weeds, are among the most nutritious plants you can eat. From an environmental perspective, however, Pollan hesitates to advise that everyone go out and eat wild foods--particularly animals--as there would not be enough to go around.
Entitled "Escape from the Western diet," the final section of In Defense of Food provides a series of policies, or rules of thumb, to keep in mind when purchasing and eating food in order to improve our health and also promote nutritional growing methods in agriculture. This content is organized based on the three first sentences of the book: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." There are tips for how to distinguish between what is real food and what is not, starting with the list of ingredients on the back of the packaging--the longer the list, the farther you should steer away. He recommends subscribing to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to shorten the food chain from grower to eater and add diversity to one's diet, as well as buying meat in bulk from the farmer himself--preferably an animal that is "pastured," ("free-range" does not necessarily mean the animal grazed on greens, he warns) not just at the beginning of its life but all the way until the end ("grass-finished" is another term to look for).
Anyway, not to give away all of Pollan's tips; for that, you will have to read the book. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto gets 5* (out of 5) from me, although I will admit that it is a daunting task to rethink my eating habits in light of his conclusions. I can already see that some of the most difficult advice for me to apply in my own life will be 1) to reduce the sugar in my diet (I need my 3 heavily sugared coffees daily; I swear!), 2) to spend more money on quality food instead of "getting a deal" on cheap food (I'm not making any money right now!), and 3) to avoid snacking (How will I convince myself to sit down and write without a snack in hand?) in favor of 3 relaxed meals replete with stimulating conversation (and not TV). I will say, however, that my predilection for wild edible plants is a good start!
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