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Nutrition Perspectives (Research Paper)

Cassy L. Boyd

NUTR 1020

Salt Lake Community College

2021
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Abstract

In this paper, I will be exploring the concepts of the book, In Defense of Food: An

Eater’s Manifesto, written by Michael Pollan. I will also be presenting information about the

author, his background, and my own personal and educational take-away from reading and

researching this book and the topic of nutrition.

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In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollen

In Defense of food was written by Michael Pollen, a journalist and activist who explored

the sociocultural impacts of food. He is currently the Knight Professor of Science and

Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He received both a

B.A. and an M.A. in English and does not have any kind of nutritional or agricultural

background. (Wikipedia, 2021) He delivers his messages through investigative journalism and

through his own personal views on modern day nutrition. He is not in support of science and

believes the term nutritionism, an ideology, is not to be trusted with their scientific reductionism

of singling out individual vitamins and minerals. He believes that each part of nutrition should be

looked at as a whole. A food is made up of a sum of all of its parts. He ultimately is asking the

question, “where is the food in our food?”

In the book, Pollen examines the fact that process foods are not what we would call “real

food”. That it is packed full of fortified macronutrients that have been taken out during

processing making it adulterated food. He believes that the current food industry has become too

scientific, which leaves processed foods unnatural. Over the course of years there have been so

many dietary claims of low-fat, no cholesterol, high-fiber, yet we as Americans, continue to be

fat, have chronic disease, and are left confused about what to eat. Pollen describes “real food” as

unmeasurable in its contents, the food that the industry cannot slap a nutrition label on and call it

healthy.

In today’s society, we rely heavily on nutrition labels, what dietary science says, and

what media and the food industry portrays is healthy and what we should consume. However, we

are also more informed about the food pyramid and know that we should be eating our portions

of fruits and vegetables from the produce section in the supermarket. The area of the store that is
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overlooked often by the packaged foods in the isles. One statement that Pollen makes is, “don’t’

buy anything that your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” (Pollen, 2008) This

statement rang loud to me. My great-great-grandmother would not know what Oreos and

Gogurts are, probably because they are not “real food”. They are processed foods that are no

more than chemical compounds with added nutrients.

Pollen also goes into the topic of how the government got involved with how and what

we eat. This has been an ever-changing program set in place to guide Americans on dietary

habits and goals. The Dietary Goals for the U.S. was established in 1977 and has influenced the

food in America ever since. It has shown to rise and fall depending on the industry and science

of the time. America and other countries do not share the same views on nutrition with issues

like labeling products as imitation. In America, a product was required to be labeled as imitation

if it contained any synthetic additives. This law was tossed out in 1973, stating that as long as the

product was not less in nutrition that it’s authentic counterpart, it no longer needed to be labeled

as imitation. This made eating even more scientific.

This also allowed the food industry to remove “bad” nutrients and add wanted nutrients.

This created food fads and food phobias. There are a multitude of claims from the government

and food industry to eat less cholesterol, eat more fiber, etc. Then, the food manufacturer’s will

add or remove those nutrients from their products. It gives way to the term food “industry”. Is it

really a good thing to eat a sugar filled cereal that has the claim of “good source of iron”, or a

back of potato chips that has a bold red sticker saying “low in sodium”? Do we really know what

is in those products? Would your grandmother recognize any of the listed ingredients on the

package? Probably not.

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In other countries the view on nutrition is more traditional. Many countries still consume

the same foods as they have for many years. A lot of their diets consist of locally grown and

raised livestock. More and more we are seeing industrialize food companies, such as,

McDonald’s and Taco Bell, spring up all over the world. This is manifesting chronic illness,

obesity, and other problems where there once wasn’t any. The Western diet is proving to be one

that is overlooking the root of the problems and covering them up with wild nutrition claims.

Even if the product is lower in fat, we tend to eat more. Or, if the product is low in cholesterol,

what is it high in? That part is not advertised.

In my learning through the nutrition course, there are many factors that are challenged

and supported by this book. One such factor is nutritionism vs. nutrition. They are not the same.

Nutritionism is an ideology based on what the industry and government think you should eat.

Nutrition is the actual vitamins and minerals your body needs in order to sustain itself. Infant

formula is the ultimate test product of nutritionism. Infant formula is the idea of what an infant

needs to consume, which has undergone many transformations over the years due to infants

becoming sick and suffering from malnutrition. Whereas, breastmilk holds the entirety of the

nutrients that the infant needs for optimal nutrition.

A supported factor is the topic of fat. Although it has undergone the same transitions as

infant formula, it is now recognized that certain types of fats are necessary. Omega 3 is essential

in optimal brain functioning. Fat soluble vitamins, such as vitamin A and vitamin E, need fat in

order to be absorbed into the intestinal walls. During the 1970’s there was a trend to take out the

fat from products and replace it with carbohydrates. With little proof that fat impacted health

negatively. The claim was to lose weight by eating less fat. Well, as we know now,
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carbohydrates will make an individual gain weight and defeat the claim of “eat more low-fat

foods”.

Finally, the trust we instill in science should be questioned. In the book, In Defense of

Food, Pollen presented a viewpoint that would make most people question the science of

nutrition, He led readers to believe that nutriotionism is the best thing to happen to the food

industry, that everything we are told is a way to get people to stop eating the same old thing

we’ve eaten in the past and to entice us with novel kinds of foods. With promotion from the

medical community and government, the industry is just trying to make a profit. After studying

nutrition this semester, it has been taught through our textbooks what to look out for in processed

foods, how to not fall for the nutrition claims, and how to shop wisely. We participated in a ten-

dollar challenge that gave way to the reality that shopping the produce section and raw foods is

not only less expensive, but healthier.

I have a new outlook on what I purchase and I will also keep in mind the thought of:

would my great-great grandmother know what this is? I will be shopping more around the outer

edges of the supermarket. I learned from the course and through the book that this is where more

of the whole and raw foods are. I also learned that it’s not just what you eat when it comes to

animal products, but also about what the animal ate. A lot of times you may be trying to avoid

certain nutrients, but ultimately still be consuming them if the livestock was fed on that product.

Dietary claims on packages are now a red flag in my view and I will steer clear of them. This

change in my personal dietary habits will also get me in the kitchen and cooking more

frequently. It is so easy to grab and go by throwing a quick meal into the microwave or pour it

out of a box. It is time to take into account that there are many additives in that product that if

you only knew, you probably wouldn’t feed it to your family. My health and wellbeing are
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important to me. I would rather avoid chronic disease in the future by trading in that tempting

treat.
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References

Pollan, M. (2008). In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. Penguin Press

Smith, A., Collene, A., & Spees, C. (2017). Wardlaw’s Contemporary Nutrition: A Functional

Approach (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education

Wikipedia contributors. (2021, April 1). Michael Pollan. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Retrieved 02:04, April 17, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

title=Michael_Pollan&oldid=1015497333