Has anyone else read Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food”? It is the follow-on to “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” I’ve read about 60% of it, and it’s mostly good stuff. It’s a broad indictment of overly processed foods, and how modern farming has robbed even some of our whole foods of the nutrients they once had. If you liked The China Study and/or The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I recommend getting a copy of this. All of them have dramatically changed the way that I eat.
Can you expand on how they have changed the way you eat?
Funny, I’ve had that quote rolling around in my head all week. I read and loved the Omnivore’s Dilema last year, but have yet to pick up In Defense of Food. Sunset Magazine has a short interview with Michael Pollan in this month’s issue where I read the “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
Is In Defense very different from O.D?
Time to forage for breakfast.
I’m about 60 pages into it. I’m liking it so far.
We tend to over think nutrition and eating. But “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” is about as basic as you can get. We can read all kinds of books and ask all kinds of questions, but his thesis is probably the best advice we’ll find.
Can you expand on how they have changed the way you eat?
When I describe how I’ve changed the way that I eat, it will no doubt sound trite because it’s so basic. In a nutshell, I’ve gone back to eating the way that my grandparents likely ate, and the way that many non-Western nations have always eaten. Eat smller portions, use meat as a side dish rather than the main course, and concentrate on whole foods, organically grown. For me, the power of these books is not so much that they show the virtues of this diet, but that they show how far the US diet and food production system has strayed from the fundamentals. We’re now a nation that is over-fed, yet under-nourished.
Is In Defense very different from O.D?
I haven’t read all of In Defense of Food yet, but so far it’s not fundamentally different from O.D., but rather a good follow-on work. If I had to recommend only one, it would be O.D.
I think that the follow-up book is more about implementation and O.D. is more theory. Depends what type of person you are. I like knowing the theory but I’m probably a minority.
I’ve now finished In Defense of Food. I’m very glad that I read it, but I can’t say that it took me much farther than OD. It was more of a refresher, with new information thrown in. The section on nutritionism was probably the best part. While I enjoyed the book, OD is a better treatment of the topic.
I agree with you.
I’ve read a lot of nutrition/food/diet books in my life. The three that have had the greatest inpact on what I am willing to eat are: Omnivores Dillema, The China Study and Fast Food Nation.
I read all three in the last 1.5years and have a completely different opinion of US food production than I once did.