I came to this book predisposed to give it 3 or 4 stars. The subtitle, "Eat Food, not too much, mostly plants" sounded like something that (as a vegan) I could get behind, even if Pollan himself isn't vegetarian. I liked "The Botany of Desire," and also am liking "The Omnivore's Dilemma" (haven't finished yet).

This book is well written and contains much that I agree with. But it's not in the same category as these others because of his attitude towards science. Michael Pollan can do better.

The reason for the low rating is that Pollan has essentially trashed science in favor of a vague admonition to eat foods that your great-grandmother would recognize as food. In other words, science is no help here. It's true that science is addled with "nutritionism," as Pollan correctly points out, which is called "scientific reductionism" by T. Colin Campbell. It's also true that the studies are contradictory and often badly done. But this no reason to trash the scientific method: instead, look at the science and try to figure out what's wrong.

As I read through the book, I asked myself, "I wonder what Pollan is going to say about 'The China Study'?" T. Colin Campbell specifically refutes one of Pollan's key contentions, about not eating too much contributing to obesity. Campbell shows that the Chinese eat substantially more calories and yet weigh less. I don't think this can all be attributed to exercise and if Pollan had bothered to read this book I think he could have seen why. Campbell also has some other points which bear on what Pollan says. Pollan has references to "The China Study" but these are clearly added at the behest of his fact-checker. It's clear to me that he hasn't read "The China Study" himself!

My grandmother, Naomi Woodroof, was a food scientist. This book is an insult to the memory of my grandmother and our intelligence. Pollan's cavalier attitude towards science, in my view, negates all the positive aspects of this book. [/Rant off:]