Science writer Michael Pollan has changed the way Americans think about eating and our health. In contrast to the larger cultural obsession with nutrition, dieting and obesity, his extensive research has been summed up in just seven straightforward words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. But in books like The Botany of Desire (2001), The Omnivore’s Dilemma (2007), and his latest work, In Defense of Food (2008), Pollan demonstrates how difficult it is to follow this simple mantra, given the complicated world of agricultural production. Despite his unappetizing revelation that much of what we eat is more “edible foodlike substances” than actual food, Pollan’s meticulous investigations of food production and consumption are always fascinating fare for readers and critics.

Underwritten by
The George S. Turnbull Center School of Journalism & Communication
University of Oregon Portland

Photo credit: Alia Malley