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In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto Paperback – April 28, 2009

by Michael Pollan (Author)

1,016 customer reviews

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#1 New York Times Bestseller

Food. There's plenty of it around, and we all love to eat it. So why should anyone need to defend it?

Because in the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion--most of what we’re consuming today is longer the product of nature but of food science. The result is what Michael Pollan calls the American Paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we see to become. With In Defense of Food, Pollan proposes a new (and very old) answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Pollan’s bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we can start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives, enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating.

"Michael Pollan [is the] designated repository for the nation's food conscience."
-Frank Bruni, The New York Times

" A remarkable volume . . . engrossing . . . [Pollan] offers those prescriptions Americans so desperately crave."
-The Washington Post

"A tough, witty, cogent rebuttal to the proposition that food can be redced to its nutritional components without the loss of something essential... [a] lively, invaluable book."
--Janet Maslin, The New York Times

"In Defense of Food is written with Pollan's customary bite, ringing clarity and brilliance at connecting the dots."
-The Seattle Times

Michael Pollan’s most recent book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation--the story of our most trusted food expert’s culinary education--was published by Penguin Press in April 2013, and in 2016 it serves as the inspiration for a four-part docuseries on Netflix by the same name.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Significant Seven, January 2008: Food is the one thing that Americans hate to love and, as it turns out, love to hate. What we want to eat has been ousted by the notion of what we should eat, and it's at this nexus of hunger and hang-up that Michael Pollan poses his most salient question: where is the food in our food? What follows in In Defense of Food is a series of wonderfully clear and thoughtful answers that help us omnivores navigate the nutritional minefield that's come to typify our food culture. Many processed foods vie for a spot in our grocery baskets, claiming to lower cholesterol, weight, glucose levels, you name it. Yet Pollan shows that these convenient "healthy" alternatives to whole foods are appallingly inconvenient: our health has a nation has only deteriorated since we started exiling carbs, fats--even fruits--from our daily meals. His razor-sharp analysis of the American diet (as well as its architects and its detractors) offers an inspiring glimpse of what it would be like if we could (a la Humpty Dumpty) put our food back together again and reconsider what it means to eat well. In a season filled with rallying cries to lose weight and be healthy, Pollan's call to action—"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."--is a program I actually want to follow. --Anne Bartholomew

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Pollan provides another shocking yet essential treatise on the industrialized Western diet and its detrimental effects on our bodies and culture. Here he lays siege to the food industry and scientists' attempts to reduce food and the cultural practices of eating into bite-size concepts known as nutrients, and contemplates the follies of doing so. As an increasing number of Americans are overfed and undernourished, Pollan makes a strong argument for serious reconsideration of our eating habits and casts a suspicious eye on the food industry and its more pernicious and misleading practices. Listeners will undoubtedly find themselves reconsidering their own eating habits. Scott Brick, who narrated Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, carries forward the same tone and consistency, thus creating a narrative continuity between the two books. Brick renders the text with an expert's skill, delivering well-timed pauses and accurate emphasis. He executes Pollan's asides and sarcasm with an uncanny ability that makes listening infinitely better than reading. So compelling is his tone, listeners may have trouble discerning whether Brick's conviction or talent drives his powerful performance.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product details

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; 1 edition (April 28, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0143114964
ISBN-13: 978-0143114963
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 1,016 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #23 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking Education & Reference
- #30 in Books > Self-Help > Spiritual
- #54 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Nutrition

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Top customer reviews

A life changing book...

BySPARTY 047on February 22, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I have a medical and science background...so traced references cited....everything checks out. Recently diagnosed with osteoarthritis at age 63 and weight 284 pounds. Read this book the first week of January.....went shopping for real foods the second week of January. Find it satisfying to eat no more than 4 oz of red meat 2-3 times a week....salmon, mackeral, sardines 2-3 times a week....and a couple of days with no meat...just veggie omega 3 sources. Have re-read the book....highlighted...added notes on all pages...and bought 2 more copies for my 30 and 21 year olds...both who grew up in the age of "nutritionism" with all its false information. Following Pollan's common sense advice....paying the extra for organic basic veggies and olive oil. Decided to eliminate all wheat and corn until I loose the weight I've set as a goal.
Five weeks eating 3 meals a day...and by week two much of the chronic 24 hour a day pain was gone and I began walking the elliptical and the woods. Five weeks and 30 pounds lighter....with more energy than I've had in 20 years. Buy this book, learn it, live it, tell your loved ones.

33 comments 72 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Sadly lacking in useful content

ByHunter Hastingson August 21, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. That's the author's own summary of the book in the first line of the introduction. There are 245 more pages but he didn't add anything.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

exploding the myths

Byjeanpierreon May 10, 2012

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

An insight into the replacement of "food" with industrialised, processed, manufactured and synthesised "product". With a guidemap to how to reduce, avoid or eliminate the risks.

Whether or not the contribution of the "big end of town" to the food supply is actually "cheaper" can only be measured if people take into account alternative sources for their food, and the health costs which ARE associated with the focus of manufacturers on carbohydrates, fats, sugars and salt.

It is self-evident that the current "obesity epidemic" is not the result of some contagion, some change in the environment, and can only be attributed to the invasion of the food production and distribution process by large corporations. This "plague" has hit the western world mostly in the past 40 years. The fallout has been a massive increase in diabetes, heart conditions, cancers and other health problems, ALL of which cost the consumer and the nation a substantial amount.

For individuals, there is generally no saving once those health costs are factored in. For the nation, there is the loss of personal exertion income and productivity, the damage to GDP and national tax revenues, the added cost of medical care for the population.

The book highlights many of the risks and dangers, and offers alternatives and solutions that anyone who is not already at the end of their lives should read and apply.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

It will change forever the way you view food

ByCristina Gilon February 23, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Remember how in the 80s margarine was the solution and butter was evil? Now trans or hydrogenated fats kill you (margarine). Same thing with sweeteners, we go from hearing aspartame is the solution to the so dangerous saccharin, to sucralose (Splenda) is so much better than aspartame.
Growing up reading and hearing contradictory theories and recommendations on what is healthy, what is carcinogen and what is natural, then super artificial food "healthy" options, it is truly refreshing to learn that most traditional diets are fine but scary to understand how we have been manipulated by "medical" and government institutions as well as by the industry. It's not enough to ask for science, we need to demand for good science in order to form an opinion and make decisions on how to lead a healthy lifestyle.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

This is a must read... putting real food back on the table!

ByAmanda Frenchon February 27, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a great read. Well researched and put together. My one complaint is that we didn't get more into serving size... It was spoke of in a really broad way but the focus was more on listening to your body about when it is full. This is good advice. My husband and I are very active and I want to ensure we are getting enough sustenance to fuel our physical endeavors. That aside, this is a fantastic resource. Will definitely be re-reading and soaking in all that Pollan has shared.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Most recent customer reviews

Incredibly easy to read for a non-fiction book about food - ...

Incredibly easy to read for a non-fiction book about food - delightful reading, informative, and may be revolutionary if you take its message to heart.

Published 7 days ago by kkpina

Four Stars

Really good book that has a natural way of motivating the reader to eat healthier

Published 11 days ago by aewsome sauce

Well written and informative, definitely worth reading

Well written and informative, definitely worth reading and finding out about where the food we eat comes through. Also contains practical advice.

Published 12 days ago by Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Very helpful and easy to understand. great info.

Published 14 days ago by Dorothy C. Bordelon

Essential Reading

This is the single most important book to read this year, or any year. While Omnivore's Dilemma was primarily about the ethics of how food gets onto our plates, this book is about...Read more

Published 19 days ago by Evon Slaughter

Excellent

This is actually the first I've read of his series of publications and I can't wait to read more. Straight forward and honest, he makes some of the more austere factors of the...Read more

Published 20 days ago by Megan M

I can enjoy and healthy

Pollan makes sense of eating again even amongst such a confusing and bombarding food culture. I felt empowered and capable to be in control of my health in the way that worked for...Read more

Published 1 month ago by Katharine Choyce

Four Stars

great read

Published 1 month ago by Michael D. Bradburn

Want to reset your food and eating mindset?

This book was life-changing for me! I found Pollan's writing style to be thoughtful, clear, and relatable. And I can't tell you how many times "Eat food. Not too much.Food Rules: An Eater's Manual Read more

Published 1 month ago by Amy Lamp

One Star

bored me.

Published 1 month ago by Amigurumi Gal

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