In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

by Michael Pollan
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto  
published January 1st 2007 by Penguin Press HC, The
first published 2008
binding Hardcover
isbn 1594201455   (isbn13: 9781594201455)
pages 205
description What to eat, what not to eat, and how to think about health: a manifesto for our times

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." T...more
date added
03-12-07



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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 7504)



Amy
Amy rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
03/04/08

Read in February, 2008
In the Buddhist tradition there is a level of hell whereby the dead, known as hungry ghosts, are trapped with enormous stomachs and tiny throats unable to swallow anything but the smallest bites of food. Their particular brand of torture is that they are always eating and yet their hunger is never satisfied. These hungry ghosts sound an awful lot like the modern American eater trapped in the unhealthy western diet demonized in Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.

Y...more
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Ginny
Ginny rated it: 1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars
04/01/08

Read in March, 2008
Actually, there is enough good stuff in this book that it probably warrants another star or two. But I was so alarmed at the amount of misinformation here that I can’t bring myself to say that the book is “okay.”

Michael Pollan is right about some of the big stuff. Nutrition research is badly flawed. It has sometimes led us down the wrong road (although it has also provided life-saving findings). The government is far too slow to change its recommendations and has strong ties (to p...more
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Patadave
Patadave rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
07/19/08

I’m a huge fan of Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, (see review here) but only a big fan of In Defense of Food. The first two sections of Defense, “The Age of Nutritionism,” and “The Western Diet and Diseases of Civilization” fit perfectly with Omnivore’s posture of investigative journalism. While Omnivore included Pollan as a character, it came across as a non-biased, or relatively low-biased, intro to the foodstuffs served across America. The first two sections of Defense ad...more
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James
James rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
03/10/08

Read in March, 2008
I am deeply ashamed, depressed, and embarrassed by the fact that such a book as Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food need be written, much less published, critically acclaimed, and enjoyed by someone such as myself. Pollan himself acknowledges the perverse state of affairs saying, “That one should feel the need to mount a defense of ‘the meal’ is sad, but then I never would have thought ‘food’ needed defending, either.”

We should be collectively mortified as a culture because tho...more
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  1 comments

Andy
Andy rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
02/25/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in February, 2008
**My full review is posted on my blog at: http://citingthetext.blogspot....

Michael Pollan summarizes his latest book, published January 2008, on the cover and in just seven words: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." He admits on the very first page that he has pretty much "given the game away" with that summary, but that he plans to complicate matt...more
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Meghan
Meghan rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
03/08/08

Read in March, 2008
In a time when reading is a somewhat escapist activity, when people prefer reading for pleasure than reading for knowledge and when mindless entertainment is the oft-chosen occupation of our leisure; I find myself in the minority in that I enjoy learning something new from what I read. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollen is no exception to that idea; I enjoyed what I learned from reading it.

That is not to say that I didn’t have my qualms about the book at first: wo...more
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Paulette
Paulette rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
03/19/08

Read in March, 2008
Pollan's In Defense of Food makes the call for a return to healthy, pleasurable eating. Pollan notes that American eaters are less likely (than their European counterparts, for example) to take their time in eating food; rather they're apt to eating alone and on the go, and consume processed, "food-like" products as opposed to actual food. Pollan argues that we should go back to eating only what our great grandmothers would recognize as food, taking the time and investing the money i...more
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M
M rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
03/18/08

bookshelves: food
Read in March, 2008
recommends it for: foodies
This was a harder read for me than The Omnivore's Dilemma. It is full of useful and interesting info, but it wasn't written in the same style of writing. It isn't about his journey meeting or visiting people to learn about this stuff, it's just a ton of facts, studies, and more packed in efficiently. I had a much harder time reading it as a result.

At the same time, I do recommend it as interesting food for thought on the way we think about food, what we are told about food, what food really...more
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Happyreader
Happyreader rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
03/06/08

bookshelves: food-and-drink, health-and-diet
Read in March, 2008
I hated reading this book. And that's sad because I agree with his basic premise. Just eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants. And I would add, try and get off your ass once in awhile. But this book was excrutiating to read. I read the first 50 pages, gave up, and went to the last section on his very basic food rules, gave up again. His language was all black and white with blanket condemnations and blanket recommendations, ironic since that's what he condemns in scientific thinking and...more
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Rebecca
Rebecca rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
06/17/08

Read in June, 2008
Michael Pollan's newest book, In Defense of Food, is highly readable and informative. He talks about "nutritionism," a sort of religious belief in the benefits of eating food for nutritional benefits rather than for pleasure or cultural reasons. He asserts that this belief is what has led Americans astray in their eating because we regard non-food items as being healthier than food. What this means is that we think non-fat yogurt, made using about 50 different ingredients, including Po...more
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Jenell
Jenell rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
07/19/08

bookshelves: health, history, home
Read in July, 2008
Having first read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and then The Botany of Desire, I was in awe. To produce all that research, to go out in the field for interviews and first-hand experience, and then to orchestrate it all in such objective and eloquent prose—that was superhuman! And I became a humble worshipper.

Pollan’s newest work In Defense of Food is another such brilliant creation. He first talks about nutritionism, which is the reduction of foods into their constituent...more
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Elizabeth
Elizabeth rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
01/20/08

Read in January, 2008
I just finished a great book: In Defense of Food; An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan. You might have heard about his other big book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. If you are the kind of person who wants to live with intentionality and conscience, but aren't ready to move into the woods and grow and hunt all your own food, this book is for you. And Pollan is willing to give away the whole thing on the cover: eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

"Eat food" sounds simple and it should ...more
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Spencer
Spencer rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
02/07/08

Read in January, 2008
recommends it for: everyone
Thanks for the reminder to update, Ethan!

This book was really eye opening. I think (or thought) of myself as having a pretty healthy diet-- I have the whole wheat blend flaxseed enhanced pasta, the total cereal with nonfat soy milk, the bran muffins and the fish oil capsules.

I AM A DUPE! I've been sucked into the cult of "nutritionism" as Pollans calls it, the belief that what's healthy about the food are the identified micronutrients it contains, and that foods are either heal...more
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Firecooked
Firecooked rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
02/18/08

bookshelves: foodie-books
Read in February, 2008
Its always easier to like and recommend a book when it summarizes what you already believe. I had a good friend comment (while we were chowing down at a party) “you’re so thin, you can eat anything”. I didn’t say anything, but I’m thin because I DON”T just eat anything; I work to eat things that taste good and are good for you (and if not, don’t eat it!). I quit using margarine probably 25 years ago (I had a good job and could afford “real” butter), I stopped drinking (and...more