Pollan Article Response

In his article “America’s Eating Disorder” Pollan discusses the problem behind American eating. He notes the paradox of other cultures eating foods that are much higher in fat and calories having a healthier average weight. He says that this is mainly due to the fact that Americans worry much more about food. Being the great Melting Pot of the world, we have standard meals from almost every culture, but not our own history of food. Because of this we have no stable eating pattern passed down like other countries do. With the increase in available choices, we have forgotten how to choose foods for taste and health. Pollan notes that “we've learned to choose our foods by the numbers (calories, carbs, fats, R.D.A.'s, price, whatever), relying more heavily on our reading and computational skills than upon our senses” (Pollan 4). Food is chosen based on the nutrition facts that are supplied by the companies that make the products themselves. Americans have become so worried about eating the proper amount of different nutrients that we have lost the ability to choose food instinctually. We eat what we are told is the proper amount to eat. With this great concern for what we are eating, Americans end up eating the wrong amounts of the wrong food. We assume that because we ran two miles we can trade this for having a lot of snacks for the rest of the day. This is an interesting observation compared to the French culture of eating. Because they have a stable eating schedule and do not worry about what they eat, they ultimately end up eating healthier than the average American.

                This is a very interesting analysis of how Americans eat. In my own paper I focused about how Americans do not choose the healthiness of a food product enough. However, in this paper it shows how focusing too much on the health can become a problem. We forget to trust our own instincts on what to eat, and focus way too much on what our culture is telling us to eat. Looking over these observations it’s causing me to reevaluate my own food choices and the way that I view food.