bobkat 's review for:

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

3.0

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Got a signed copy. Will have to read [b:The Omnivore's Dilemma|3109|The Omnivore's Dilemma|Michael Pollan|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1192945129s/3109.jpg|3287769] next: this one is great! Pollan argues that the scientifically based and politically reinforced shift to thinking about food in terms of their nutrients (a phenomenon he and others call "nutritionalism") allows processed foods to claim health benefits above and beyond natural foods because you can basically add or subtract anything from them. Margarine is an example Pollan uses repeatedly: it was developed and popularized in the '50s and '60s when cholesterol and saturated fats were demonized (which also spawned the mass production of breakfast cereals). When trans fats were later identified as being worse than saturated, margarine got reconfigured to absolve it of that sin. You can add fiber and any number of vitamins to processed foods, etc., -- but the science of food is always changing and often contradictory. How can we be sure that the benefits of a particular food, say, an orange, are all captured in its fiber and vitamin contents, and that these benefits can be replicated with supplements?

Anyway, in the last section of the book Pollan will offer his perspective on how to implement his manifesto to "eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much," while reclaiming the cultural and otherwise pleasurable aspects of eating that have been left in the shadow of the global (and, in particular, American) "unhealthy obsession with healthy eating." Looking forward to it!

Note: Changed to 4 stars because of the repetition.