Hungry? A short review of Michael Pollan.

I recently finished reading Michael Pollan's newest book, In Defense of Food.  For those who have not read this, or his first book The Omnivore's Dilemma, I heavily recommend both.  American eaters especially need to sit up and take notes - there are numerous eye-openers in both works about our modern food industry, just where our food comes from, how it gets to us, and all the little details that tend to be glossed over at the dinner table.    Beyond just questioning what food is, by the end of both you'll find yourself looking at your full pantry and saying "I don't have any food!"  This realization is not a bad thing.

Pollan realizes that many of his revelations will likely perturb or disturb his readers and does his best to bring a bit of lightheartedness to the situation with his dry wit and humor.  This is not to say that he shies away from saying what we need to hear, however.  Modern foods (or at least food-like products) are an industry, and it is time consumers recognized that.  Our diets and the diets of our children (he didn't bring up cafeteria food but it was certainly on my mind) are being determined by large businesses out for profit, no matter the cost in health to the consumer.  In this, consider Michael Pollan the modern Upton Sinclair.  However, this is not all there is to his works - ultimately everyone is going to bring something different away from these texts.