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

by Michael Pollan (Author)

1,018 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Because in the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion--most of what we’re consuming today is longer the product of nature but of food science.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: 1,018 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,583 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #45 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking Education & Reference
- #58 in Books > Self-Help > Spiritual
- #95 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 76 people found this helpful. Was 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

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

Thoughtful, Thought-provoking ...

ByBusyMomTOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICEon June 25, 2009

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I have been waiting for quite some time to read this book and I have another one of his books coming on the way. As a woman who has been looking for ways to change our family's eating habits, this book supports my position that we need to eat more plants and less processed food. A lot of the stuff Pollan mentioned in here is nothing new for me as I've read bits and pieces of it elsewhere in other articles and other books, as well as coming to my own conclusion from watching my extended family's eating habits.

Simply put, I do not care for "man-made" substances. I cannot tolerate man-made sweetners and even prescription drugs bother me. After reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Food, Miracle," I am shocked to realize that even though I am trying to eat more plants ... there aren't that many varieties of brocoli in the grocery store ... just one that produces great yield but not nearly enough nutrients. I knew about the soil leaching all the nutrients out, which is why farmers of old used to rotate their crops, but I didn't realize that plants do the same thing as well. Interesting.

This book is not an in-depth book on food like I had hoped for, but it is a great introduction on thought-provoking theories about the history of our eating habits in the last century. Personally, I feel a sense of relief that I am not the only one struggling with how to read a label these days ... I do get confused as to which is the "bad fat, good fat" and etc. Goodness knows, in this household, we love Oreo cookies and we know that it's not good for us ... but we love it anyways. But we don't gorge on it ... we try to supplement it with other good foods. Anyhow, that's not the point of Pollan's book. His point is, we need to change our way of thinking ... not just our eating habits, but the way we approach food. For some odd reason, Americans seem to think that eating is not pleasurable. And for some reason, no matter how much people diet, they still seem to get sicker every time.

This book presents interesting concepts and theories which are rather different from other "food" books that are out on the market. For me personally, this book has got me to look at my pantry a bit differently and trying to figure out how much more I can get away from processed food ... which I am already on the path of doing, and changing our eating habits to benefit the earth as well as for ourselves. There is an increased risk to heart disease and diabetes and the links are increasingly pointing to our eating habits. This book points a light at why it might be that way even if we're trying to eat better and healthier. There is a lot more to just eating ... there's food preparation, family get-togethers and more.

Definitely a book worth reading. It is definitely a stepping stone to exploring more options of finding out what our diet needs more of and a challenge to our way of thinking as well.

6/25/09

0Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

The Greatest Book Ever Written

ByJason M. Jewellon December 19, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Have you ever wondered why while our wealth, standard of living, and technology have grown exponentially, our health has deteriorated just as fast? This book is not about diets or fads or health crazes (except when it debunks them). It's based on common sense and academic research that has been conducted over the past century.

Why do the Japanese live so long? Why are cases of diabetes and obesity exploding? Why is there corn in my Mountain Dew? This book sets out to answer all the hard questions about food and health and how they're inter-related. It definitely succeeds. If you read this book and don't find the answer to any and all questions about what you should and shouldn't be eating, you're reading it wrong. This is the last book I will ever read on health and diet because all the answers are here.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Most recent customer reviews

Whole foods are good but the bias for plant based diets is not ...

A fairly informative narrative spun in entertaining fashion. Whole foods are good but the bias for plant based diets is not fully supported in the text.

Published 2 days ago by Adam Gille

Five Stars

excellent

Published 2 days ago by DRAULIO B ARAUJO

I think this book is a wonderful way to start understanding the complex world of nutrition

As a nutritionist, working towards his master's degree. I think this book is a wonderful way to start understanding the complex world of nutrition.Read more

Published 14 days ago by Leandre Fischer

Sadly lacking in useful content

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.

Published 1 month ago by Hunter Hastings

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 1 month ago by kkpina

Four Stars

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

Published 1 month 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 1 month ago by Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Very helpful and easy to understand. great info.

Published 1 month 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 1 month 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 1 month ago by Megan M

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