Our National Eating Disorder

I really liked this article by Michael Pollan. In his article “Our National Eating Disorder,” he discusses the notable afflictions of American eaters in comparison to the eating habits of others around the world. Ultimately, he discovered that there was a deeply seeded paradox. Americans are the “guiltiest” eaters, but still eat the most. In other words, we are fully conscious of the bad eating decisions that we make, but we continue to make them, and make them, and make them until our stomachs cant fit any more bad decisions. This sentiment is manifested in any number of the ridiculous “fad diets.” Pollan notes that the turn of the 20^th century “marked the first golden age of American food faddism,” a beloved marketing trend that has extended well into the present date.

“Carbophobia,” “lipophobia,” and “carnivory,” to name a few, are some of the pseudo-scientific fads that focus on the elimination or gross addition of any given element of the food we eat. The over-scientification of food is something that has come to haunt the American appetite. As Americans, “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.” When you give someone a number, all other measures hold a negative or positive relative position to that one number. Suddenly, when you know that X food item has Y calories, you know that you are only supposed to have Z calories per meal and thus you feel guilty. Pollan notes that upon discovering this dreaded information, some people half-heartedly attempt to alleviate this guilt by exercising, trying to whittle down the overall intake of calories. Abstinence from these calorie-heavy foods does not deem to appear as even a blip on the American palate’s radar.

Possibly the most interesting observation that Pollan makes concerns what he calls “the omnivore’s dilemma.” Humans are nature’s ultimate omnivores. We can eat plants, fruits, grains, and even other animals, and as such we have the most difficult time deciding what to eat. Most animals have it so easy, they get a few items, and as much as they want of it, and get all of their nutrition from it. Koalas and eucalyptus are one of the examples he mentions, but he adds a clever theory. Some research has been done on koalas, and it would appear that koalas at one time ate a much greater variety of substances to receive their nutrition. Over time, as their diet devolved, their brains gradually shrank. “Food faddists take note,” indeed.

I consider myself very lucky. I have naturally been blessed with a very small appetite and a very fast metabolism for as long as I can remember. Because of this, I have been able to generally eat whatever I want. My parents are very similar, but have always emphasized to me that even if you don’t get fat from eating unhealthy foods, they can have a long-term negative impact on your body internally even if you can’t see any problems at first. Still, I rarely feel guilty eating unhealthy foods but I think most of it comes from my appetite stopping me before I can eat too much. Pollan’s example of Italians and French styles of eating is something I can sympathize with, having a large Italian family on my father’s side virtually force food on you as an expression of love, but they always make it themselves and every meal is exactly proportional to the number of guests. More importantly, I think, is the fact that meals take hours and hours, and I wouldn’t be surprised if my family actually burns calories with all the talking and laughing going on in that time. Still, everyone enjoys eating, and the guilt of eating comes from the portions, not the item itself. Pollan concludes “…what a wonderful prospect, to discover that the relationship of pleasure and health in eating is not, as we've been hearing for a hundred years, necessarily one of strife, but that the two might again be married at the table.”