In Defense of Food

Journalist Michael Pollan argues that in the Western diet real food has been displaced by nutrients and common sense by confusion, so that the more Americans fret about nutrition, the less healthy they seem to be. He blames nutritionism, an ideology that has overcomplicated eating, and separates food from what he calls edible foodlike substances. His alternative is a seven-word rule: eat food, not too much, mostly plants. He urges people to eat what their ancestors would recognize, spend more time and money on food and buy locally. The book grew out of his essay Unhappy Meals and answered readers of The Omnivore's Dilemma. PBS later adapted it as a documentary.

Richard Branson named it among his top 65 lifetime reads in a list he drew up for World Book Day.