And his central idea was that we use material possessions to provide a bridge back to them. Once I start looking, I see this everywhere: my city slicker aunt’s collection of cowboy boots; a wealthy friend’s pride in his $1.99 tube socks; my winter jacket designed for a Himalayan ascent, yet destined for snowy walks in Brooklyn. But perhaps nowhere do I see it more than in the grocery store. In the supplement aisle, of course—all those herbal, Ayurvedic, or neurotropic signifiers we grab at and swallow—but also in the food itself. The entire Michael Pollan ethos is, after all, a way of making
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