Basically, what I took home was: choose whole grains over "refined" whenever possible, avoid high-fructose corn syrup, eat more green stuff, and eat less meat. Doing this much has been fairly easy for me. It just requires a little label reading. I also discovered that whole grain pasta is yummy in everything but mac and cheese.

Here's something from a Washington Post article on the current trend to market processed food as simple with few ingredients, with a comment by Pollan:

On one hand, the move [to marketing simple food:] is a victory for those who have long preached the glory of simple, less processed foods. In his best-selling book "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" (Penguin, 2008), Michael Pollan writes that the first rule is to avoid any food products with more than five ingredients and those that contain unfamiliar ingredients (or high-fructose corn syrup).

But such advice was not meant to suggest that anything that contains a large number of ingredients is bad. A home-cooked stew or a Spanish paella, for example, has dozens of ingredients but is what Pollan and others deem "real" food. Sugar, in contrast, is just one ingredient but can be harmful in large quantities.

"It is better that the food be simpler than more complex," Pollan said in an interview. "On the other hand, this is another case of food manufacturers reformulating to reflect whatever the latest critique of their food is and turning what it is a criticism into a marketing strategy to sell more food."

Sorry, Sherry. It's gone off to a little town where there are no phones.

I'm glad you did, Summer. I got the audiobook from the library because of the older discussion, burned it to my iPod, and now just around to finishing it. Of course now I had totally forgotten that that first discussion existed. I feel a connection to that Billy Collins poem somewhere else around here, title starts with an F.

I'm sure the moderators of this board are not autocrats. ;) Use an old thread; make a new thread...who cares?! I just linked for continuity's sake.

I knew I heard about it here. I should have searched for that prior discussion, before starting a new one, but I had forgotten about it.

I like Pollan, too. Here's a link to an earlier discussion:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5334...

I second the vote for The Botany of Desire A Plant's-Eye View of the World--a truly eye-opening look at how plants have shaped our lives.

I love, love one of Pollan's early books The Botany of Desire A Plant's-Eye View of the World and highly recommend it.

My CSA is starting up soon - I can not wait. And the farmstand opened yesterday - i haven't made it over yet, but hope to soon.

Doesn't spring make it seem like anything is possible?

I read this book last year and found it fascinating.

I also read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle last year, and enjoyed it; but I think I liked The Omnivore's Dilemma even more. I thought Kingsolver was just a little bit preachy in tone.

We do a lot of shopping at our local farmer's market. Went there for the first time this spring this morning. They didn't have much yet, but we managed to get some nice local free range eggs.

On a more serious note, the combination of the three books has led me to change my grocery habits. I started volunteering at the winter farmer's markets we have here and getting to know our local farmer's. We can get an awful lot that is raised locally including beef, lamb, pork, poultry and of course, all kinds of vegetables, even during the winter. But now its another month and a half till the next farmers market, the first of the spring, and that feels like forever

Well, that's a good way to go on a diet, Bruce. I must try it (probably won't work). I have the Kingsolver book on my Kindle, and may start reading that in a month or two.

Yes it is, and let me add to the list Animal, Vegetable, Miracle A Year of Food Lifeby Barbara Kingsolver, which takes theory into action for one family. Read all three books in one month, which might have been overkill. Almost gave up eating anything!!!

I had to stop eating meat for a while after reading this one -- it definitely opened my eyes.
His recent book, In Defense of Food, is also an interesting read.

Yes - I thought the discussion about corporate/organic producers was particularly interesting. It has led me to significantly change the way I get food, focusing more on the local producers in my area. A really interesting book.

The Omnivore's Dilemma was fascinating to me too, a book that informed and entertained on every page.

Glad you liked this one Sherry, I've been following his work for years. He's pretty awesome.

I rarely read nonfiction, but I am very interested in food, so I listened to this. The Omnivore's Dilemma is one of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read, and will indeed make me change my ideas about food and the way I actually eat. I'm pretty conscious of food, I help grow it, I try to only eat organic, I freeze and can home-grown produce, but this book gives me impetus to work even harder at it. I recommend everyone read this. Don't worry, he's not trying to convince you to quit eating meat. But you may be more careful what kind of meat you eat.