Response to "In Defense of Food" Section One

In Michael Pollan’s book In Defense of Food, I defend him and all his accusations towards the food industry replacing real food with fake, unhealthy food substitutes in supermarkets. I too believe that “nutrient rich” food is taking the place of whole foods on pantry shelves and in turn is making it unclear to consumers what product, or in this case product substitute, they are actually purchasing. And so, it is due to this lack of knowledge and scientific hype of buying ingredients versus buying food that people are poisoning their bodies with the chemicals that fortified these “nutritious” foods. What’s worse is the consumption of these products are harming, more than helping individuals struggling with everyday food choices. To clarify, every time a consumer chooses processed foods claiming to be healthy, that person is increasing their chance of developing a chronic disease such as cancer or diabetes. A classic example of this is the butter substitute, margarine. This food boasts it is better than butter but in reality its main ingredient is responsible for heart attacks and cancer. Therefore, following this nutrient based diet claiming to be good for our well-being is actually creating an adverse affect. As further evidence, http://cajunchiro.net/nonfood.aspx provides numerical data on the unhealthy ways people satisfy all the different food groups each day. From toddlers eating french fries to the general public consuming most of their calories from refined and over processed junk food, people have forgotten the right way to eat. The article reinforces this fact when it states “[people] eat MORE of what they DON'T need (nonfood) in an attempt to obtain what they DO need (nutrients as real food).” In other words, the body is trying to make up for all the nutrients lost in these processed foods by consuming more of them.