In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
Author(s):
Michael Pollan
Label: Penguin Audio
Publisher(s):
Penguin Audio
Studio: Penguin Audio
Manufacturer: Penguin Audio
Binding: Audio CD
Format(s): Audiobook
List Price: $29.95
Our Price: $19.77
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Editorial Reviews
Product Description
What to eat, what not to eat, and how to think about health: a manifesto for our times.
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Significant Seven, January 2008: Food is the one thing that Americans hate to love and, as it turns out, love to hate. What we want to eat has been ousted by the notion of what we should eat, and it's at this nexus of hunger and hang-up that Michael Pollan poses his most salient question: where is the food in our food? What follows in In Defense of Food is a series of wonderfully clear and thoughtful answers that help us omnivores navigate the nutritional minefield that's come to typify our food culture. Many processed foods vie for a spot in our grocery baskets, claiming to lower cholesterol, weight, glucose levels, you name it. Yet Pollan shows that these convenient "healthy" alternatives to whole foods are appallingly inconvenient: our health has a nation has only deteriorated since we started exiling carbs, fats--even fruits--from our daily meals. His razor-sharp analysis of the American diet (as well as its architects and its detractors) offers an inspiring glimpse of what it would be like if we could (a la Humpty Dumpty) put our food back together again and reconsider what it means to eat well. In a season filled with rallying cries to lose weight and be healthy, Pollan's call to action?"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."--is a program I actually want to follow. --Anne Bartholomew
Customer Reviews
Good book, could be half as long
I have read a handful of books about food and diet. I may not be the target for this book. I'm skinny and eat mostly non-meat food anyways.
It is an interesting book, but I actually found myself zoning out, skipping paragraphs, then pages, then a whole section at the beginning. I already think our processed food culture is messed up, and he does go on and on about that if you need to be convinced. It is best when he references a specific study or the history of how grain was processed.
The author also rehashes the same points over and over again, and then at parts even summarizes what he will talk about in the next chapter. Reminds me of one of my papers from high school where I was trying to fill pages.
So far I found other books like "Healthy at 100" to be far more inspiring, engaging and informative.
My rating is a bit harsh probably, and I can see for some readers this being a great book on the topic of food and diet. It is an important issue that we will face more and more.
One of Us...One of Us..join us..forever and...ever
I have to say I'm prejudiced towards this kind of book that offers the reader a "lifestyle". With that said, I probably follow a lot of the ideas in the book, but I didn't have to read the thing to come to obvious conclusions like eating fewer portions of food will make you thinner. Really? Processed food is bad for me? Wow, I've been living a lie.
Though it won't explain how some people live healthy and long lives and they eat crap, drink too much, and smoke.
I'm impressed with the way these books tend to spread through the NPR-New Yorker crowd and make everyone jump all over themselves with enthusiasm. I heard Pollan on NPR and it seemed that his "wisdom of the grandmother" was a little too wistful and a bit false.
My grandmother smoked like a chimney and boiled the hell out of everything that she cooked, draining most of those nutrients out the door. Maybe if I had super-Oma or idealized nanna, she might have opened the oracle and showed me the way to live better and not be so nasty.
We eat differently than people two generations ago. To compare they way we eat to the way they ate is loaded with comparisons that don't make much sense because the conditions are much different. Processed food was not nearly as pervasive as it is now.
After reading the Jungle, I don't think anyone is going to make the case that sausage from a local company counts as "good honest" food compared to the way that some larger companies load their meats up with preservatives and fillers. Given a choice between a rat or some guy's finger and MSG, I think I'll go with the MSG.
It will be interesting to see what the next fad will be. Maybe it will be that processed food is better for us. I can't help thinking about that scene in Woody Allen's now dated film Sleeper, where a man wakes up in a totalitarian future to find two people trying to explain what his "health food store" was all about while they explain that smoking was found to be healthy and red meat was also good, especially when it's fried.
Eat food
Pollan's seven word manifesto has the potential to change how we eat in this country. He goes through the science of where we went wrong (redutionism) and then tries to explain how we can do better (holism).
Eat food, mostly plants, not too much. He then explains that is clear and understandable terms. We should all read this book and inculcate its message into our lives.
A manifesto for mindful food consumption...
Author Michael Pollan develops a powerful thesis which is succinctly summarized in the title:
* Eat food (he defines "food" and differentiates it from what passes for food at the grocery store
* Eat in moderation
* Eat mostly plants
That pretty much sums up the message, along with ancillary tips: eat at a table, eat with others, grow a garden however small, etc. About 60% of the book is filled with background material and science which at times made my eyes glaze over.
This book can change the way you feel about food and eating.
A good read to consume before your next trip to McDonald's.
Timely book by Pollan
Michael has written another gem. This book is profound and timely. What you eat and approach to food have a great deal to do with your health. He argues that the western diet is the problem. hard to dispute!
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