P6: Free but Freethinkers?

Pollan talks about how our relationship with food can determine how we eat it, and in turn controls our weight and healthiness. He made the argument that if we were less conscious about food, enjoyed it for the taste and company, not go back for seconds and not snack, we would be thinner like the French and also enjoy eating more as a whole. Our symptoms/ causes of our unhealthy eating is actually worrying about it too much, and trying too hard to be healthy. Instead of listening to our bodies and scenes such as taste and smell, Americans as a whole tend to over-analyze our food and trust the sciences instead. He says we have “lost our confidence” in food and our sciences, and I believe he is absolutely right. If we listened to our tastes and took smaller portions I think we would be both happier and healthier. We should choose quality over quantity.

I thought his view on the marketing and corruption of the diet was also really interesting. I never considered how much money there was in the diet industry and how much it is controlled and commercialized. They condemn one product or ingredient only to praise another one and start an entire eating revolution.  He put it kind of comically when he described how fascinating it was that an entire country’s eating habits could change overnight. It only takes one article in a popular news magazine, a show on the tv, or a newspaper article before everyone jumps on the bandwagon and begins to diet.