how to Eat Food

Eating food should be simple. However, Pollan reminds us that anything processed is not "food" in the traditional meaning of the word. It is nothing but a "food or food-like product." Pollan's prescriptions for eating food are these...

First of all, avoid all foods that your grandmother (and increasingly, your great grandmother) would not recognize. Then;

• "Avoid Food Products containing Ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable, c) more than five in number, or that include d) high fructose corn syrup" (pg 150)- go to your pantry and see how much this includes, even the healthy sounding stuff (especially the healthy sounding stuff).

• "Avoid Food Products that make health claims" (pg 154)- even Fritos adds a little something that give it the chance to make a "qualified" health claim.

• Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle" (pg 157)- Processed food is in the middle, while real food- meat, veggies, fruit, dairy- lines the wall.

• "Get out of the supermarket whenever possible" (pg 157) you find little or no processed foods at a farmer's market or CSA. Plus, your produce is fresh.