Michael Pollan's In Defense Of The Food Industry

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Food industry in the past was simple, clear and clean. People used to grow their own fruits and vegetables in their backyard’s without adding any chemicals or preservatives. Nowadays, food industry has become more complicated and corrupt. Mario Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University confessed in an article “Big Food’s Real appetite” (1) that she overheard her nutritionist coworkers say that “Food companies will make and market any product that sells, regardless of its nutritional value or its effect on health”. These products can cause lots of problems, without the consumer knowing. For example, Henry smith, a 30-year-old lawyer, wanted to lose weight. He was tired of having a large stomach and losing his breath…show more content…
What had gone wrong? He, like millions of people, didn’t read the food labels. He didn’t realize that the "healthy" food he was eating was full of chemicals, mostly additives and preservatives. Unfortunately, this kind of mistake happens all the time and because of it, more and more Americans are gaining weight, becoming obese and getting sick. In response to this problem, Michael Pollan, a writer and journalist, wrote "In Defense of Food: an eaters manifesto" In this book, he discusses the misleading food advertising that is so common today. He also offers guidelines to consumers Mohamed.2 about how to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy foods. While his suggestions might be useful in certain cases, they are too difficult for most consumers to follow. One reason is that most Americans are middle and lower class and have limited time and money. Michael Pollan advised the consumers to stay away from supermarkets as much as possible and shop at farmers markets, where they can find healthy products that don’t contain any harmful chemicals that can affect their health in many negative ways. In his book,…show more content…
Americans have a busy life style and having a relationship with the farmer requires time which most American don’t have. In fact, studies have shown that approximately 23.5 Americans live in a food desert, which is a community in which residents must travel at least a mile to buy fresh meat, dairy products, and vegetables “In Depth Briefing: American’s “Food Desert” (1). This is leading the poor people to rely on process foods and fast food, instead of fresh meat, vegetables, and fruits. The only people that shop at the farmers markets are the high class who sit in their expensive cars and drive to a farmers market and come out with a cart that is filled with all kinds of products. Even though, the farmers market is a better choice, many people prefer to shop at supermarkets because they are closer and affordable. It is also difficult for consumers to make better choices when shopping because they are easily fooled by misleading labels and health claims. Pollan says in his book "Avoid food products that make health claims" (353). This is extremely difficult because most people
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