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In The Omnivore's Dilemma, the award-winning author Michael Pollan answers myriad questions about food in America: What is it? How is it grown or raised? What makes it taste good? In exploring these questions he discussses almost every aspect of the obtaining and eating of food, ranging from philosophical to ethical to practical, ranging from monoculture to hunting to high fructose corn syrup. Along the way, he shows what people do eat, but he does not directly engage the issue of what people should eat, particularly regarding their health.
His newly released book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, attempts to do just that, but not before Pollan, in his usual lucid prose, skewers, with thoughtful reasoning and thorough research, the state of food in America and common knowledge of how diet relates to health. For instance, there was never much evidence that animal fats, as bacon lovers will no doubt be glad to know, caused the negative health consequences attributed to them. The main culprit, in Pollan's estimation, is "nutritionism"