Although I have been aware of the intersectionality of American politics and the national food system for quite some time, I am overwhelmingly taken aback by the discovery of nutritionism’s influence within such a unique relationship. Before diving into Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, I perceived the bond between food and politics to be linked to grassroots movements towards regulatory change; however, I now comprehend that the correlation between the two is largely a result of the ideological domination of nutritionism. As food became increasingly industrialized by the macronutrient revolution, it also became inextricably politicized through the intervention of the FDA. With the 1973 repeal the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act’s “imitation rule” that threatened the prosperity of the American food system, “nutritionism had become the official ideology of the Food and Drug Administration” as “adulteration had been repositioned as food science” that purportedly focused on promoting public health policy (Pollan). Such false advertisement on the benefits of new macronutrient science of the time, spurred on by food industry lobbyists, essentially brainwashed millions of Americans to buy into the baseless whims of processed food manufacturers. Such spurious tactics of political food endeavors is especially alarming to me; although the repeal of the imitation rule occurred 45 years ago, the lies of the food system continues to pull the wool over the eyes of American consumers. Nutritionism still hold a large hold over both the food industry it indefinitely perpetuates and the lawmakers it financially supports. As I come to see the dangers of nutritionism presented by Pollan, I worry about the rapid industrialization of food products that continues to occur. I hope that with the “melting of the lipid hypothesis,” the relationship between the food system and politics will transform into one that focuses on eradicating the laws that protect and propagandize harmful food practices and activities.
