Michael Pollan introduces the concept of “nutritionalism,” in his book In Defense of Food. Nutritionalism is the ideology of placing value on the individual nutrients of food vs. focusing on the food themselves. This modern wave of thinking has allowed the populous to be more nutritionally conscious, but also opened a can of new concerns.
When we think about food as nutrients only, we lose sight of what role food has played in human history and how we’ve dulled our instincts over time. Humans have historically stuck to simple, natural, foods. But now, more raw ingredients are chemically altered before reaching our cutting boards (that is to say if our cutting boards aren’t collecting dust on our shelves). Nutritionalism has us treating our bodies like machines and as such we’ll accept advice from research professionals regardless of how that research turns out and how it was conducted. Are food choices REALLY our choice?
This battle of making the “right” choice has led to the popularization of fads and diets. The words of Matieu Dubeau, a Teaching Assistant at the University of Washington, resonated with me. He mentioned that health fads (low-fat, veganism, etc.) are an easy way for people to excuse themselves from political participation because major changes in the food industry must be done through collective action and I agree with that wholly. When we look at the organic movement, people think they’re helping but even then, people are really just shifting their financial investments from one part of the food industry to the other, especially since “organic” doesn’t even mean “no pesticides.” It’s trading one unethical practice for another.
This has left me confused with what to do with my food choice. But, Pollan’s advice is a good place to start.
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”