This week I picked up a copy of Michael Pollan’s newest book, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual. I’m a big fan of Michael Pollan not only because of his important ideas about food and agriculture but also because of the witty way in which he presents them. “Eat Food. Mostly Plants. Not too much.” These are Pollan’s basic food rules which are explained in detail in In Defense of Food. His newest book is a concise recount of these rules and others related to them, such as “Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients.” I’m definitely looking forward to more of Pollan’s practical advice in Food Rules!
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly vegetables. 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.”
This is the start of Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. Along with Omnivore’s Dilemma, this book has shaped our attitude about food and healthy eating. Pollan presents some interesting background on the American food industry in a way that is easy to read and amusing thanks to his engaging style. He also offers some great advice about how and why to avoid the “edible foodlike substances” that have pervaded the Western diet and eat real food. We try to follow Pollan’s guidelines as much as possible and delight in trying new eats that are locally sourced and processed as little as possible (if at all).
Here is a summary of Pollan’s guidelines directly from In Defense of Food:
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 include d) 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– shake the hand that feeds you.
Mostly plants: What to Eat
- Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.
- You are what what you eat eats too.
- If you have the space, buy a freezer. (When you find a good source of pastured meat, you’ll want to buy it in quantity).
- Eat like an omnivore.
- Eat well-grown food from healthy soils.
- Eat wild foods when you can.
- Be the kind of person who takes supplements.
- Eat more like the French. Or the Italians. Or the Japanese. Or the Indians. Or the Greeks.
- Regard nontraditional 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 of your eating at a table. No not a desk. A table.
- Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does.
- Try not to eat alone.
- Consult your gut.
- Cook and if you can plant a garden.