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

The new book from Michael Pollan is just what I was looking for as I am trying to determine what kind of foods will be best for my baby as she starts solid foods in a few months. I admit to being pretty clueless about nutrition, and also to feeling overwhelmed by all of the contradictory diet and nutrient information I see in magazines and books.  

With his seven word mantra "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Pollan is out to reverse the effects of the Western diet by encouraging people to make good choices based on common sense and quality instead of the modern mayhem of nutritionalism, packaging and marketing. My favorite advice from his book is to pretend that I have my great-grandmother with me at the grocery store and not buy anything that she wouldn't recognize as "food" while I am shopping. No more flaming hot Cheetos or diet cherry cola for me!

While I don't always expect non-fiction reading to be entertaining, several parts of this book made me laugh out loud, including an explanation of qualified health claims on processed food packaging. Pollan explains that many of these claims are sketchy to begin with and the disclaimers in tiny print are even more confusing for consumers. As an example, he offers this scenario for the future: ""No doubt we can look forward to a qualified health claim for high fructose corn syrup, a tablespoon of which probably does contribute to your health, as long as it replaces a comparable amount of --say--poison-- in your diet and doesn't increase the total number of calories you eat in a day." Hilarious, but sad; is this really the direction that our food packages are headed?

Pollan offers simple guidelines for shopping and eating, including shopping for locally grown produce at farmer's markets and preparing whole foods yourself instead of relying on convenience or processed foods for your family. While the advice is simple to understand, following his tips could necessitate a complete lifestyle change.

Have you read this book or one like it that you would recommend?

Are you trying to buy more organically grown produce or eat more whole foods with your family?

Do you have any advice for someone just getting started?