In his book, In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan expresses the extreme central belief that the American Diet or, as Pollan names it, the Western Diet is the downfall of society’s health. In depth portrayals of Americans’ failure to eat natural, organic meals, or even meals at all with a family at a table and having consistent snacking in between allows Pollan to make the assertion that it is our culture to blame for the dramatic rise in disease and obesity. He enhances this claim by comparing the United States to France. Americans are some of the most health conscious people, in that the majority buy low fat or low carbohydrate products, along with frozen and preserved foods that come in large amounts. Then why are the French a generally group of thinner and healthier people? Before he gets scientific, Pollan begins to first identify the differences between the countries’ “relationship with their food”. The French eat foods that are not filled with preservatives and chemicals that replace the ingredients we Americans try to avoid. Why then are the French generally thinner and healthier? Pollan claims it is their eating habits comprised in their culture. For instance, the French eat meals together at a table. Their lack of preservatives and substitutes in their food allows for a very whole and untreated meal. Thus, their food was prepared and was not a cheap replacement of the real thing. In comparison to the average American, European cultures eat more slowly in order to fellowship and truly enjoy the meal. They rarely go back for seconds and avoid snacking throughout the day. Thus, they may eat what Americans avoid, but yet they eat less, eat healthier and better quality tasting foods, and actually enjoy their meals instead of eating them on the go or popping food in the microwave.
Pollan writes with passion. When reading, one can almost hear him yelling, almost as if he was preaching to a crowd. For example, Pollan explains that part of the eating problem is attributed to the low quality: “Not everyone can afford to eat high-quality food in America, and that is shameful! However, those of us who can, should”. His writing style reads as if it is an essay or speech, as it is so convicting and opinionated. His credibility as a writer is high because of his extensive research and observations on culture, food, its preservatives and substitutes, and the effects of different types of food and eating habits on society. This passion that Pollan writes with is evident when he makes bold statements criticizing the Western diet. This evaluation of the American diet is given not only by these harsh, insensitive comments, but by criticizing our food guides, food pyramids, even our nutritionists! He writes what needs to be said, stolid about the lifestyles he is condemning. This adamant style of writing, though very persuasive and thought provoking is however, incredibly biased. Bias is a writing component that is difficult to avoid, particularly when in books where there is an opinion about a topic. Pollan uses this opinion and bias to come across as a high authority writer trying to gather followers in his quest to change American food culture. Susceptible readers beware!
Pollan also writes with a lot of repetition, as if he needs to reiterate his point over and over to insure the reader understands. This equates to not only a sense of enthusiasm for the critique of Americans’ relationship to food, but also monotony. Pollan, at times, appears to let his mind get ahead of his writing. He writes as if he were talking. This leads to him repeating various claims in different ways, which makes the monotony equate to a conditioned attitude towards whatever the author has to say. Thus the passion and exuberance that had originally attracted many people to read Pollan’s claim about food, ultimately makes him very vulnerable to losing his audience’s attention. Writing with a lot of repetition can become very monotonous, which can turn many pieces of work to boring. Readers lose interest as they are conditioned to whatever he might be saying because they have heard it so much. Pollan needs to find a different avenue in expressing his zeal in food culture effects on society.
Despite what may comprise each individual paragraph, Michael Pollan has a very clear organization. Although at times monotonous, Pollan still writes in accordance with the main idea of the section. His theme of critiquing the Western diet has three main components: “The Age of Nutritionism”, “The Western Diet and the Diseases of Civilization”, and “Getting over Nutritionism”. Within these sections, Pollan has scientific research, which he uses to support and give authority to his claim. Take for example Pollan’s evidence to back up his claim on the effects of less quality food on the health of Americans: “Is it just a coincidence that as the portion of our income spent on food has declined, spending on health care has soared?”
There is no question, as to what Pollan is talking about or where he stands on each topic. He is passionate; that is clear enough in the way he speaks. Yet his passion has a way of coming back around to hinder him with monotonous repetition. Although In Defense of Food is presented in a very logical and clear order and there is scientific support of his statements, Pollan’s enthusiasm causes readers to become disinterested and thus not be convinced that the Western diet may very well be a critical issue that requires attention.
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