Chris Clarke
Food is perhaps the most crucial component of daily living. Yet, according to Michael Pollan, food and the way we think about food has been under attack for the past century, and our health is suffering because of it. Under attack? 'By whom?' is the logical question to ask, and In defence of food answers.
In defence of food is a compellingly written book treading the 'unsavoury' waters of the food industry, and the nutrition science that emboldens it. Following The omnivore's dilemma and unhappy Meals, Pollan's latest book details the processes that food and nutrition science have undergone to create what is now known as the western diet. He chronicles the disastrous effects it has had on American (and presumably Australian) health, and ultimately offers advice to avoid its dire consequences, simply: 'Stop eating a Western diet' (141).
According to Pollan, a professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, the aim of In defence of food is to 'help us reclaim our health and happiness as eaters' (7). First, he explains how that health and happiness was lost, revealing the supposed 'widespread confusion surrounding the most elemental question an omnivore confronts' (6). He critiques all that nutritional science has 'discovered' about food, and he condemns the near-ubiquitous industrialisation of the profit-obsessed food industry; after all, quantity makes bigger profits than quality (118). While Pollan primarily blames the corporations, politicians and nutritionists for the downfall of food, there is a hidden realisation that it was the regular citizens that let, if not encouraged, it to happen. The road to processed food is paved with healthy intentions.
People in the western world are getting fatter and unhealthier. Cancer and diabetes are more common now than in all previous human history (93), two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese (135), and this in the age of low-fat diets and healthy alternatives, packed with the nutrient-of-the-day (today, it is omega-3 fatty acids (125-131)). Pollan asks, as should we all, 'what happened?'
The first of three primary sections, 'The age of nutritionism', is a detailed account of so-called 'nutritionism', the 'ideology' behind the scientific ideas of nutrition, claimed by Pollan and others to be simplistic and reductionist (62). At the core of Pollan's criticisms is that 'scientists study what scientists can see' (73). Typically, nutrition science analyses the role of individual nutrients in our overall wellbeing, for instance the macronutrients of protein, fat and carbohydrates (20) or micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals (112). While this sounds logical, Pollan shows that doing so takes the nutrients out of the context of the food and culture it came from. In Pollan's eyes, nutrition scientists ignore 'subtle interactions and contexts and the fact that the whole may well be more than, or at least different to, the sum of its parts' (62). Pollan's extensive critical assessment of nutritionism reveals ample 'mistakes' throughout the past thirty years (for instance that 'the low-fat campaign has been based on little scientific evidence and may have caused unintended health consequences' (43)), leading us to the 'unavoidable conclusion that the emperors of nutrition have no clothes and [we should] never listen to them again' (45).
The second section, 'The Western diet and the diseases of civilisation', goes on to explain what damage the industrialised simplification of food has done, and how it directly contributes to the ever-increasing amounts of chronic illness across the western world. Pollan damningly shows the connection between the food industry and its nutritional scientists and the political policies that support it: 'you begin to see how attractive nutritionism is for all parties concerned, consumers as well as producers, not to mention the nutrition scientists and journalists it renders indispensable' (52). At times, In defence of food is eye-opening social commentary. Without labouring the point too much, it comes as no surprise that industry-funded science – that then naturally helps that industry (134) – is merely covering up the roots of social inequality. 'It's worth keeping in mind that a far more powerful predictor of heart disease than either diet or exercise is social class' (71). Of course this is perhaps a side-effect of the higher availability of medical support for the socio-economically superior groups. Through processes sponsored by industry, politicians and scientists alike, western food and those who eat it are steadily getting unhealthier.
The third and final section, 'Getting over nutritionism', relieves us of the feeling of helplessness generated in the prior sections. Trying to avoid the pitfalls of nutritionism, Pollan now offers guidelines to healthy eating; 'Eat food. Mostly Plants. Not too much.' (1). Pollan explains that being edible is not the core ingredient of food. He implores us to apply the effort and look beyond the supermarket, to discover natural and organic foods grown without chemical fertilizers, the way food used to be; after all, 'you are what what you eat eats too' (167). The way in which food is prepared and eaten can be just as significant; 'cooking is one of the most important health consequences of buying food from local farmers; for one thing, when you cook at home you seldom find yourself reaching for the ethoxylated diglycerides or high-fructose corn syrup' (159). As Pollan notes, if we were to convert to purely organic food, it would not just benefit us, but the environment too; 'the problem of diet and health [is] a problem of ecological dysfunction' (100). A symbiotic relationship exists, and it deserves our respect.
Pollan is very much aware of his biases and the place of In defence of food plays in the cycle of nutritional literature. Pollan is not the first nor will he be the last to attack the food industry. If any improvement could be made, it might be that Pollan look at more radical ways to change the food industry for the benefit of all eaters, rather than focusing on modifying the individual's food preferences. Ironically, Pollan himself uses nutritionism to promote his alternative methods of eating, noting that 'however imperfect, it's the sharpest experimental and explanatory tool we have' (139). In Defence of Food is a valuable contribution to the continuing debate over nutritionism. At no point does the reader feel that Pollan is unfairly portraying the position of his opponents, or that he is radically distorting the 'facts' to make a point. To this end, In defence of food successfully informs and persuades, it is truly a valuable tool in understanding the role of food today.
Pollan has scientific and historical evidence, he has acclaimed and authoritative support, but most importantly, he uses it adeptly. In defence of food could very easily have become a conspiracy-theorising protest against the food industry and its scientific and political supporters. Fortunately, it is not. In defence of food is a well thought-out and meticulously planned argument that not only intrigues, but convinces. Pollan's clever analytical style, enhanced with delightful moments of dry sarcastic wit, makes not reading In defence of food indefensible.
But will we take notice?