Michael Pollan at Stanford

Michael Pollan gave a talk at Stanford a few nights ago, about his new book. Here are my notes:

Nutritionism premises
- the nutrient is what's important
- we need experts to help us understand them
- at any given time, there are good and bad ones (historical: oat bran, betacarotines, omega 3s, etc)
- the point of eating is health

- reducing foods to nutrients hasn't worked very well
- digestive system has as many neurons as the spinal cord
- nutrition science has a *long* way to go
- nutritionism did rise to solve a very real public health problem: western diet-related diseases
- science will eventually figure this out, but eaters don't need to know the science to reduce disease and be healthier
- we've turned diseases like diabetes into a lifestyle (ads for diabetes gear on primetime TV, etc.)

- relying on science hasn't worked thus far, nor should we rely on MP
- prior to science, we had culture to understand these things
- last 1/3 of book explores various cultural rules for eating
- examples: don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food, or anything with more than 5 ingredients; shop the perimeter of the grocery store; don't eat food that won't ever rot ('cause mold and bacteria aren't even interested); don't shop the super market (go farmers market instead)
- eat until you're full, eat slowly
- "defending food and meals should not need to be done"

Q/A
- supporting local food isn't just about energy and carbon footprint - it's fresher, tastier, keeps land from being developed, supports local economies
- we have to keep fighting for a transparent food system, and we can't depend on the government to make it happen (sugar/UN/WHO/Dubya example)
- we're not connecting the dots between food problems and health problems
- "1 cheer for meat eating" regarding whether or not to eat animals; in some narrow bioregional and evolutionary contexts, it's ok
- some folks do really well eating lots of meat (like the Masai, but they get lots of exercise), but there are many factors affecting it (how it's raised, cooked, etc); grass-fed beef doesn't compete with humans for nutrients
- eating 20% less meat (per person) saves as much carbon as downgrading from a sedan to a hybrid
- eggs: cage-free is the first priority, pastured is ideal (they eat grass and bugs); ask at farmers market if they cruise on grass or dirt