Michael Pollan has written a Change This Manifesto about his new book “In Defence of Food”. I love the opening line –
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. That, more or less, is the short answer to the supposedly incredibly complicated and confusing question of what we humans should eat in order to be maximally healthy.
In a three part book, he attacks the dominance of “experts” who promote a reductionist idea of nutrition based on components which are not foods; the Western diet with its imbalances and overload of processed foods; and sums up with 12 commandments to escape from the effects of the Western diet.
Essentially, he is arguing for us to eat whole foods, not industriously produced so-called foods which are manufactured from components; to enjoy our eating as a social experience; and for us to eat more fruit and veg, and less meat. The conclusions then are not ground-breaking but I like the simplicity of the message and the call to treat food as food, not as some utility, and to enjoy the sharing of meals.
Heroes Not Zombies 
Thanks for the info
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. ”
I am trying to shift to a diet of mostly plants.
Seems hard when most of my childhood was spent thinking that eating meat is a luxury (because we could not afford to have it every so often)…and now when I think of having something good to eat, it is animals, not plants I think about! Sounds crude when put like this. But I am trying to become a vegetarian, one meal at a time:)
I can get behind MOST of those commandments, though I really do need an occasional Diet Coke….
One of my goals for 2008 is to eat better – and to encourage my family to do the same. Part of that is inspired by our wallets (eating out is expensive) and part of it is that I want to establish a tradition around food with my daughters. They’re big enough now to really participate in the creation and consumption of meals, and having that family time is important to me.
“Enjoy our eating as a social experience” – I couldn’t agree more; it can enhance life in all sorts of ways. Before I got married, I lived for 3 years in a rented flat with 4 other people, and we always made a point of sharing our main meal of the day together, each of us taking it in turn to cook for the others. It meant we took more care in buying food and preparing proper meals, and that we were friends sharing a home rather than a bunch of guys treating the place as a bedsit. Pollan isn’t a huge fan of supermarkets, is he? Quite right too – can I recommend 2 books by Joanna Blythman, “Shopped” and “Bad Food Britain”; real eye-openers about the practices of the big supermarket chains and the sort of food that they inveigle us nto buying and eating.
[…] allow me to enjoy food which was grown locally and available fresh in the markets. (Adopting the Michael Pollan Food Rules – Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants) I thought it would enlarge and deepen my experience of the […]