A Call for Simple

Michael Pollan's book in defense of food has sounded the alarm against the "western diet" and it's "fake food" take on nutrition. Pollan's argument is based on the fact that we view food as just "nutrients" and not as a actual food. He also argues that while the government, fueled by large processing companies, calls today's food "healthy" it has caused a rise in such diseases as obesity, coronary heart disease and cancer. Pollan is suggesting to the public that if we really want to be healthy we should eat natural foods. A call for simple food.



I agree with Pollan. It seems now a days everything you eat causes cancer or is unhealthy, but what is good for you today will be bad for you tomorrow. Why do we let our health be influenced by the companies who make our food? Any good business plan looks to maximise profits and the general public wants to be "healthy." So when companies say something is "healthy" the public jumps on that trend and profits can be maximised. If we ate simple like back in the day where the headlines weren't littered with headlines about the new "unhealthy food" and why it causes some problem what would happen to the fast food restaurants and the processing plants?

In an article on the USA Today web-page (click here for a link) an example of the resistance to Pollan's call to look at the way we eat along with an overview of his book. In my mind however the company shoot themselves in the foot by saying we use high-fructose corn syrup to sweeten food because it's cheap. Being cheap means food companies can keep costs low and maximise profits. So just think before you eat next time is it truly "healthy?"