In Defense of Food

Journalist-turned-food-expert, Michael Pollan's poignant advice on how we can remedy both our health and our food system can be summarized in three simple rules: EAT FOOD, MOSTLY PLANTS, NOT TOO MUCH. I will try to summarize his main points below using many of Pollan's own headings, but the way the author compellingly fleshes out each point should not be missed.

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GETTING OFF NUTRITIONISM

Escape from the western diet 

EAT FOOD: Food defined

  • Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. 
  • Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable, c) more than five in number, or that include high-fructose corn syrup.
  • Avoid food products that make health claims.
  • Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle.
  • Get out of the supermarket whenever possible

MOSTLY PLANTS: What to eat

  • Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.
  • You are what you eat eats too.
  • If you have the space, buy a freezer.
  • Eat like an omnivore.
  • Eat well grown food from healthy soils.
  • Eat wild foods when you can.
  • Be the kind of person that takes supplements.
  • Eat more like the French, or the Italians, or the Japanese, or the Indians,  or the Greeks.
  • Regard non-traditional foods with skepticism.
  • Don't look for the magic bullet in the traditional diet.
  • Have a glass of wine with dinner.

NOT TOO MUCH: How to eat

  • Pay more, eat less.
  • Eat meals.
  • Do all your eating at a table.
  • Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does.
  • Try not to eat alone.
  • Consult your gut.
  • Eat slowly.
  • Cook and, if you can, plant a garden.