Pollan on Nutritionism
June 2, 2010 at 9:31 am 7 comments
Did I mention how I love Michael Pollan? No?
In case it wasn’t clear before, I do. I’m pretty near the point of doodling his name all over my school notebooks… circled by apples rather than hearts (yeah, I’m cool.) So I’m just going to go ahead and entreat you to join me in the Michael Pollan fanclub.
My admiration is well-founded: He just does such a good job of explaining what’s going on with the food industry/food system and how it affects the way we eat — an incredibly complex situation — in a very clear and easy to understand way. So I’ll let his words speak for themselves:
Here, he first talks about how the food industry “adds value” to food by processing, which is how they are able to profit off of it. Then he explains nutritionism and how the, reductionist, “good v. evil” view of nutrients really distorts the way we eat and think about food.
This is why I roll my eyes when I hear people extolling the benefits of the superfood-of-the-moment (goji berries! pomegranate! acaii!) which in my view is basically a marketing scheme that only serves to further confuse people about what they should be eating.
The super thing is eating the way Pollan himself suggests….it’s marvelously simple: Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants.
<3
Michael Pollan: In Defense of Food 2 – Youtube
Michael Pollan: Unhappy Meals [NY Times]
Entry filed under: Videos. Tags: Marketing, Media, Michael Pollan, National Eating Disorder, Nerd Crush, Nutritionism, State of Food.
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Guest Post: Struggling with Corporate Food Culture « epicuriosa | June 3, 2010 at 6:34 pm
[...] The conference room was littered with food, all of the most evil* variety: family size packs of Twix, Butterfinger and Skittles; Chocolate covered espresso beans (we were high brow lawyers after all); Oatmeal raisin cookies. And of course, gallons upon gallons of coffee. [Ed note: Although processed foods should generally be avoided, Epicuriosa does not endorse thinking of food as good vs. evil.] [...]
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Gabriela Vega | June 5, 2010 at 2:50 am
Muy cool! Acaba de definir a los peruanos: comemos por placer y con identidad cultural!
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FOODFIGHT: Is a Big Mac Healthier Than a Chipotle Burrito? « Epicuriosa: A foodie's unprocessed thoughts on eating, cooking, and how to fix the way we feed ourselves | June 16, 2010 at 7:20 pm
[...] down, looks a lot like the Twinkie. McWilliams’ first mistake is the same as that of the nutritionists: evaluating the nutritional qualities of foods based on their “stats” [...]
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Have You Ever Eaten an Eggplant? « Epicuriosa: A foodie's unprocessed thoughts on eating, cooking, and how to fix the way we feed ourselves | August 12, 2010 at 4:41 am
[...] in creating the ingredients that I would use to create meals. Inspired by Michael Pollan (as usual), I hoped that learning to grow food myself would help me gain a better understanding of what [...]
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The Trillion Dollar Question « Epicuriosa: A foodie's unprocessed thoughts on eating, cooking, and how to fix the way we feed ourselves | April 15, 2011 at 3:10 am
[...] you’ve read through much of my blog you’ll be well aware of my undying love for Michael Pollan. And you may know that I give mad props to Marion Nestle and Joan Gussow. But [...]
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Duncan Bose | May 9, 2011 at 11:10 pm
My partner and i think the item is one thing the majority of us conduct and also you aren’t on your own.
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Carin Matacale | September 12, 2011 at 10:25 am
I relish, cause I found just what I used to be taking a look for. You’ve ended my four day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye