Food Rules By Michael Pollan Summary

I found Pollan 's book to be very informative and enjoyable to read. I particularly liked the fact that I could associate Pollan’s cultural, political and economic views to the topics we covered in class. In order to complete this assignment, I selected Part 1 of the book "Industrial Food" because I was particularly captivated by the secrets of corn and also because I believed that this section sincerely disclosed the reality behind High-Fructose Corn Syrup (a major participant in the development of obesity). Not only that but, the fact that corn is found in almost every product in our pantry, it’s a little frightening.

In turn, he provides his own rules for escaping the western diet as well as the idea of nutritionist set forth by scientists.   Then Pollan explains that scientific theories of nutritionist focus on individual nutrients rather than foods as a whole. He further goes on to refute this claim mentioning that these scientific theories contradict with one another. Pollan explains “the scientists who blame our health problems on deficiencies of [micronutrients] are not the same scientists who see a sugar soaked diet leading to metabolic syndrome and from there to diabetes, heart disease…” (Pollan, 421).

To refresh In Michael Pollan’s (2008) book, In Defense of Food, Pollan maintains that, “…instead of worrying about nutrients, we should simply avoid any food that has been processed to such an extent that it is more product of industry than of nature.” (pg. 143) Basically Pollan is warning people that they need to eat whole foods no matter what, because processed foods no matter their nutrient content are bad for you. I agree with Pollan when he says that we need to not eat processed foods that are more industry then nature, but I still do not agree that have whole foods is more important than the nutrient content of the food. Think about it this way almost anything sold in the supermarket these days is considered processed for example even flour is processed.

Is there really a way to decide if the food you are eating is healthy or not? Some people indulge in foods that are high in sugar, but still do not gain weight. Humans is known to have people who have a variety of body types, and along with that each person also has a different metabolism. Therefore, we breakdown foods very differently from one another. In “Resisting the Moralization of Eating,” Maxfield criticizes the way Michael Pollan decided to approach the issues in his article, “Escape from the Western Diet”.

In the essay, “Escape from the Western Diet”, the author, Michael Pollan discuss about how the western diet is harmful for the people. He think that because western diet is responsible for many kinds diseases nowadays such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and etc. I agree with Michael pollan that western diet is very unhealthy for people and the reason behind it, is because of the food industry. Food industry is making more processed food and they are also using different kinds of nutritional theories to make new product which is very unhealthy to those people who mostly eats diet food. Medical industries is also responsible for this problem because they make new drug treatment to treat the diseases.

Pollan develops some straight forward rules and eating policies with the help of some research. It will not consist any food that we should eat, nutrients, or calories. Basically, he tells us to not only know what to eat but also know how to eat. Mary Maxfield, “Food as though: Resisting the moralazation of eating” calls Pollan out on his lack of evidence on his rules giving us definitive results “His rules function as eating algorithms”

This appeals to our physiological needs because naturally, humans need to eat food and to hear from a professional that there are other influences outside of food that are giving cause to the obesity crisis gives Americans a slight sigh of relief when it comes to the degree of toxicity of our foods. Furthermore, that people eat a more wholesome diet versus those that do not, tend to be healthier than that live on fast and processed foods,there are also stark differences to recognize between these classes that should be taken into account as well such as the tendency to engage in exercise, air quality, and other health considerations such as smoking and

Relevance between Food and Humans with Rhetorical Analysis In the modern industrial society, being aware of what the food we eat come from is an essential step of preventing the “national eating disorder”. In Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, he identifies the humans as omnivores who eat almost everything, which has been developed into a dominant part of mainstream unhealthiness, gradually causing the severe eating disorder consequences among people. Pollan offers his opinion that throughout the process of the natural history of foods, deciding “what should we have for dinner” can stir the anxiety for people based on considering foods’ quality, taste, price, nutrition, and so on.

In the modern world, making healthy food choices isn’t always easy. We’re constantly told different things about how to eat, when to eat, what to eat, and more. Today, I’ll be looking at a few food rules set by Michael Pollan. His rules are: eat food, mostly plants, and not too much. On the whole, these rules are okay, but they require closer inspection.

“You are what you eat.” This famous quote has been used by brands such as Kellogg's, McDonald's, and PediaSure to promote their products as nutritionally healthy. In the media, such advertisements are used to inform Americans about nutrition. While the general consensus is that eating a healthy diet is important, most Americans have no clue where to turn to for accurate information. In reality, the public can find useful information from qualified dietitians in a variety of publications, including blogs, magazines, newspaper articles, and more.

In “How Junk Food Can End Obesity,” by David H. Freedman, he claims that processed foods can help fix the obesity crisis in a more realistic manner, rather than whole-some foods. The popular opinion emphasizes whole-some foods because they aren’t informed about the similitude between processed and unprocessed foods. The essence of the essay is that people believe processed foods are bad and unhealthy for us, therefore whole-some foods are highly recommended for the health of an individual. Freedman mentions many prominent authors who wrote books on food processing, but the most influential voice in the food culture Freedman makes a point of is, American journalist, Michael Pollan. The media and Michael Pollan indicate that everything should be replaced with real, fresh, and unprocessed foods, instead of engineering in as much sugar, salt, and fat as possible into industrialized foods.

1. Explain why Michael Pollan finds the questions “What am I eating? And where in the world did it come from?” so difficult to answer. Michael Pollan finds this question so difficult because all food is made up of other foods, mostly corn. On page 17, he states, "any food whose provenance is so complex or obscure that is requires expert help to ascertain."

Both Pollan and Maxfield’s arguments go hand in hand with one another, even though they may not be talking about the same diet. Each argument is stating that even though people know that their diets have flaws and that they are being lied to, they are still using these diets. The people know that it is not healthy for them and that it is not the right way to become healthier, but yet

Why are our foods making us unhealthy? Some issues Sinclair includes in “The Jungle” (Sinclair 352-355) are chemical additives that are being used in foods to enhance flavor (taste), and fast food chains are making their food portions bigger which may cause more people to be unhealthy. Importantly, chemicals are being used in foods to enhance flavor (taste). The flavor industries are highly secretive and will not reveal the formulas to their clients.

Author of the essay “Eat Food: Food Defined” Michael Pollan, states that everything that pretends to be a food really isn’t a food. Michael persuaded me into agreeing with his argument by talking about how people shouldn’t eat anything their great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food and avoid food products containing ingredients that are unpronounceable, lists more than five, and contains high fructose corn syrup. He opened my eyes to information I wouldn’t have thought about or researched myself. He got into depth about a type of Sara Lee bread that contains way more ingredients than needed to make the bread, including high fructose corn syrup that isn’t good for you. Marketers are doing this to sell more of their product by making it taste