Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

I enjoyed this quick read over my lunch break, as it had a number of pearls of foodie wisdom. Some favorites:

"Avoid food products containing ingredients a third-grader cannot pronounce."

Eat only foods that will eventually rot.

"If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't."

"It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car."

"It's not food if it's called by the same name in every language. (Think Big Mac, Cheetos, or Pringles.)"

"Eat your colors."

"Be the kind of person who takes supplements--then skip the supplements."

"The banquet is in the first bite."

"Try not to eat alone."

"Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it." ( )

Basically the same as In Defense of Food, but with pictures instead of research. ( )

Quotes:

“...There's a lot of money in the Western diet. The more you process any food, the more profitable it becomes. The healthcare industry makes more money treating chronic diseases (which account for three quarters of the $2 trillion plus we spend each year on health care in this country) than preventing them. ”

“For a product to carry a health claim on its package, it must first have a package, so right off the bat it's more likely to be processed rather than a whole food.” ( )

I read (actually, listened to) [b:In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto|1952221|In Defense of Food An Eater's Manifesto|Michael Pollan|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255998354s/1952221.jpg|3100234] a couple years ago; I remember listening to it in airports on my way back from the 2010 ALTA conference in Philadelphia, which dates it to November 2010. It was good, though a bit officious and prescriptive in tone (though, in turn, that tone was mostly the audio book narrator's, not the author's). I agreed with Pollan's conclusions—Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.—which meant I considered [b:Food Rules: An Eater's Manual|7015635|Food Rules An Eater's Manual|Michael Pollan|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1308972711s/7015635.jpg|7261546] superfluous.

But then I saw the edition illustrated by Maira Kalman. I'm not bowled over by her work—is it really anything more than 50% Alex Katz and 50% Roz Chast?—but I certainly fall for its charms. (The back cover features a box of "Crazy Fun" cereal, which "provides you with twice the Zilch of other cereals.") So I got it from the library and read it. It's a pleasant way to be reminded of some things which should be common sense but, apparently, are not. Only a few rules really gave me anything new to think about, and of those #55 stands out. The rule is "Stop eating before you're full," but it's developed by contrasting the French Je n'ai plus faim ("I'm no longer hungry") to the American I'm full. Other languages express a very different relationship to the plate in front of us.

I enjoyed this book with a martini (Tanqueray, 3 garlic-stuffed olives) and a few sweet gherkins. Not my normal dinner, but one I highly recommend. ( )

Someone seriously needs to sit this guy down and attempt to give him a fucking class-consciousness. ( )