Blog Post 4

Pollan kicks off IDOF with an attack on nutritionism, the notion that we can explain everything important about food in terms of its component nutrients. The arrogant assumption accompanying nutritionism is that scientists can create a comprehensive list of everything human health requires and then engineer foods – or processed food-like substances – that deliver them to us, thereby making and keeping us healthy. Pollan lays bare the sad history of scientists’ attempts to do so, culminating in the advice to avoid fat and cholesterol that has so influenced the American diet over the past 30 years and is in the process of being debunked. He follows that up with a discussion of the current western diet and its links to the western diseases: heart disease, diabetes, even cancer. And finally, he gives some advice for how we should eat instead.

This was Pollan's entire book in a gist. His argument is according to him and his editors (I suppose they did edit it) sound. He has done what everyone expects of an author who is trying to debunk popular notions.He has layed the facts bare. He has bombarded his readers with a barrage of statistics and proofs. He rests his case in a manner that he is completely reassured of his credibility. But in his path to proving his case scientifically and statistically, he has forgotten one very essential trait of human nature. Our inability to change and/or effect changes into our lives after a lifetime of routine habits.

Pollan says nutritionism is bad. Lets start by explaining what is nutritionism. Nutritionism, when loosely interpreted, is a mindset that believes that the key to all foods is the nutrients that make up food. So a diet based on facts gathered from this concept states that it is the nutrients that we are having that matters and not what food we are having. Pollan argues that nutritionism has led to a reliance on eating processed foods that are low fat, high in Omega-3 nutrients or overloaded with our friend, high fructose corn syrup in order to fill our nutrition requirements as dictated by science and by eating these foods that manufacturers are engineering, you are robbing yourself of the necessary natural nutrients of foods found in nature (you do need fat, etc. in your diet to survive). So, in its most simplistic form, you are depriving yourself by eating manufactured food-like substances and are not really eating food at all. There Pollan completely debunks the concept of nutritionism.

Then Pollan goes on to show the evils of the western diet. No surprises there he does have to say a lot about the laid back attitude adopted by the people living there with regard to their diet. The emphasis of healthy eating seems lost in the western world.

In all this we come back to the reason why Pollan has failed to create a lasting impact on his readers and help change their ways. Yes his argument is sound. Yes his statistics prove he is right. And yes science is on his side of the argument. But since when did humans like to be told what to do. All humans irrespective of all characteristics are rebellious by nature. as kids we hate being lectured to by our parents. As adults we hate listening to our bosses. And as leaders we hate being burdened by rules and protocols. Pollan does everything wrong while stating his argument. He hopes to completely inundate the rational part of the brain with facts and expect us to grab onto what he is saying. He tries manipulating us into thinking in his way. He has an overbearing tone throughout his book, something that disgusts most of us. All in all he seemed like an all knowing scientist making us want to throw his book in the back of our cupboards after a single reading. This seems like a classic example of literary failures where the author forgets who he is writing for and what are their expectations.