In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

Not since Caroline Knapp's Appetites has a nonfiction book changed my point of view about something so strongly. Since they are both about food I think that tells me something about myself. This book, by the author of Omnivore's Dilemma (which I have not read yet), is summarized on its cover: Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants.

Pollan says that what gets complicated is what it means to eat "food". Is what is in our supermarkets today food? Or is it food-like substances, bloated by corn syrup and soybean oil? He gives a history of the FDA and discusses what basis they have for recommending different nutrients.

His rhetoric borders on being a little conspiracy-theory at times, faulting the government with providing bad information to us about food based on lobbyist groups, but his message overall is smart. The micronutrients that we fortify our white bread with are not necessarily effective independent of their complementary nutrients naturally occurring in foods. Our foods are filled with soy and corn because we can get the most calories per acre of those foods. We eat far too much meat for a healthy diet. Low-fat foods are tricking America into eating 20% more calories per day than we did in the 1980's

To deal with this, he makes some suggestions of varying simplicity to incorporate into our lives. For example, shop the perimeter of the grocery store, that's where the fresh foods are; don't eat anything that does not spoil eventually; don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize. (He also says to eat every meal at a table, (not a desk), but I'm not ready for that one yet.)

While I'm not giving my Snickers addiction up just yet, I believe that Pollan is right: food has gotten too complicated. I've already had a few extra bananas this week because of this book.