In “An Eater’s Manifesto”, Pollan defines several rules of thumb to help readers “just eat food”. He believes that many of the things we eat today are not actually food. Today’s supermarkets are filled with processed items. While I agreed with some of his claims, I had more difficulties with others. For example, Pollan first declares “don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food”. As someone who never met either of my great grandparents, I had trouble coming to terms with this statement. I had to think about what I knew about them. On my French side, one of my great grandmothers gave birth to fourteen children in her lifetime. Essentially, she was pregnant for most of her life. My other great grandmother died of the Spanish flu in the early 1900s. On my Filipino side, my great grandparents had completely different diets due to their culture. Thinking about my personal background led me to establish 3 issues with Pollan’s rule. First, the dietary needs of individuals evolve over time. A woman who is constantly pregnant will have a different diet than one who is not. Second, I am not convinced that the food my second French great grandmother ate was healthier than what we find now. At the time, food was organic, but not as sanitary as it is now. What she might consider to be normal food could be filled with harmful bacteria. Finally, I believe this rule negates the effects of culture on dietary choices. I know for a fact that neither of my great grandparents would recognize any of the names in the supermarket. I even wonder if any of the items they used to eat still exist because of the wide age gap and cultural differences.

As you can see, I was quite critical of Pollan’s claims at the beginning of my reading. My perspective changed toward the end of the section. I was happy to see that several of the final rules of thumb focused on the importance of tradition, self-control, and slow eating. One of the rules is to eat at a table (“No, a desk is not a table” (192)). This sentence stood out for me because I realized that I often eat meals at my desk while watching Netflix. Before I left for college, I always shared lunch and dinner with either friends or family. In college, it slowly became a habit for me to eat alone in front of a screen as my friends’ schedules were so different. I believe this rule was designed for an American/Western public. After studying abroad in Vietnam, Morocco, and Bolivia, I realize that eating food is a shared experience in many cultures. In the US, however, we often rush through our days, forgetting to take the time and enjoy the experience. Eating should not simply be a daily task, but an opportunity to truly enjoy food and have conversations with other people.