“If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.”
4th February 2010
Jane Brody, in the New York Times, gives a tongue-bath to Michael Pollan’s new book, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual. This is such a poster-child piece of New Age Journalism that it has to be read to be believed.
I find Pollan’s books entertaining, but Brody freely admits the characteristics (‘Mr. Pollan is not a biochemist or a nutritionist but rather a professor of science journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.’ and ‘…this little book, which is based on research but not annotated…’) that lead me to take his aphorisms with a grain of salt. (Oh, wait, no, salt is bad … unless it’s kosher sea salt gathered by happy tribesmen in underdeveloped nations.)
Brody also cements her status as a member of the Crust with such PC sentiments as ‘I will add a third reason: our economy cannot afford to continue to patch up the millions of people who each year develop a diet-related ailment, and our planetary resources simply cannot sustain our eating style and continue to support its ever-growing population.’ People who use phrases like ‘economy cannot afford’ ought to be sent to re-education camps until they quit thinking in absurd generalizations and better understand the nature of markets.
Brody is also a devout communicant of the Church of Gaia: ‘No natural food is simply a collection of nutrients, and a processed food stripped of its natural goodness to which nutrients are then added is no bargain for your body.’ You’d think that somebody with a degree in biochemistry would hesitate to use terms like ‘natural goodness’, but apparently a lifetime in journalism degrades neural pathways more than one might expect.
Pollan certainly understands his audience, and will probably make a ton of money on this book, as he has on his previous two. It’s amazing how many people keep writing for The Whole Earth Catalog thirty years after its demise.