Question

At the end of his book Michael Pollan provides some insight into how and why we [i.e. as individuals and as a society] should change the way we eat

1. Eat Food (pp. 145-161) Choose the two ideas presented that were of greatest interest to you. Summarize what Pollan said and discuss your personal reaction to the advice.
2. Mostly Plants (pp. 161-181) Choose the two ideas that were of greatest interest to you. Summarize what the author said and discuss your personal reaction to the advice and whether it is practical.
3. Not Too Much (pp. 182-205)
   1. Pollan discusses the dominance of external visual cues in our North American eating habits. Explain Brian Wansick’s bottomless soup experiment.
   2. Why does Pollan argue that paying more for good quality food will help us eat less? Do you agree or disagree?
   3. Summarize Pollan’s arguments on behalf of the family meal and against eating alone. Do you agree or disagree?
   4. Why does Pollan say that eating more slowly will help curb overeating?

4. Has Michael Pollan changed the way you think about food at all? Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

How and why we eat food

All the ideas presented by Michael Pollan are great but the points that made me more interested in are the first two points. Don't eat anything that your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food and avoid food items that are unfamiliar, unpronouncable, more than five in number or that includes high fructose corn syrup. What Pollan said in this part of his bookis how we should select the food items we usually eat. He have a great point in each and ever sentences he writes. People should always be very careful when they buy food items ad try not to fall in the traps of the business as it is the consumers health that is being affected. Pollan defines the different things that we should avoid when we select food items. I support the views of Pollan. At the present scenario, it is the same percentage of people who fall ill or die due to food poisoning as the percentage of people who die due to malnutrition. So, the points discussed by Pollan are well accepted and followed by individuals to follow a healthy life.

Mostly plants

In the 'Mostly plants' part, the two ideas which influenced me the most are the 'eat like an omnivore' and 'eat more like the French or the Italian or the Japanese or the Indians or the Greeks'. In this portion, the author mainly tries to discuss about the importance of eating more organic food, mostly the foods that are grown in good soil and also he recommends to be omnivorous. Individuals should be able to control their diet and the kind of food that they are taking in whether they are plants or meat. I just feel all these points as very much relevant. But for some people, it is really difficult for them to follow a diet which includes mostly plants. They may have taken only meat in their daily lives. But according to what the author discusses, both the meat and plants are very much essential for evry individuals and it must be added in thier diets. It is very much applicable in our daily lives. But in the traditions and societies where they have a definite pattern of eating habits or food products, these kinds of methods are not much applicable.

Not too much

Brian wansink is a cornell professor of marketing and nutritional science and he have done experiments on potion size and appetite. And from this study, he concluded that Americans give much more important to the external cues rather than the internal cues. His experiment is known as the Bottomless soup experiment. In the experiment, Wansink rigged up bowls of soup in a restaurant so that it can be automatically filled by the soup. And it was found that the people who ate from the bottomless bowl ate 73% more soup than the people who ate from the normal bowl. And when one of the hearty eaters was asked to give the opinion about how the soup was, he said 'its pretty good and its pretty filling'.

Pollan argue that paying more for good quality food help us eat less, it is correct in most of the cases because as he explains people usually are not much interested in paying higher prices or giving much efforts to eat. Both of them causes difficulties for them. It is easier for them to buy small snacks which is cheaper than the expensive ones. And as the effort in eating the money in buying those foods decreses obviously, the amount of buying of that food product will increase gradually. I totally agree with this statemnt as it occurs in almost every individuals life even mine. Individuals always looks for shortcuts and thus are always interested in doing things that are much effortless.

Family meals are always better than having meals alone. Because as Pollan says, it is a common thing that families always get together and increases their bond in the dining table. Having meals along with the family is very much important in developing our social skills and manners and also to increase the conversations. Accoriding to what Pollan says, sharing meals can elevate eating from a mechanical process to a ritual of family and community, so we should stop eating alone. I totally agree with Pollan because in my family we have our food together with the family and it is the time when we get together, have conversations and enjoy the family time mostly.

To eat slowly, Pollan says about eating deliberatly, understanding each and everthing that we are eating ad also eating food for not just taste but for health. Most of the junk foods or the fast foods just provide us taste and it never brings health, so people always recommend to eat foods which are not junk and to have them slowly.

Micheal Pollan have the view about eating habits, just the way I have been taught since childhood. The different methods of having food, which kinds of food to taken and also the importance of having food together with our families and friends rather than alone. Eating food with others can help us increase the intimacy or the bond with those people. And I completely support the ideas of Michael Pollen.